Richard Hamilton

Often described as "the father of Pop art,” Richard Hamilton (1922–2011) explored the postwar world of consumer capitalism and popular culture. Seminal works such as his collage Just what is it that makes today's homes so different, so appealing? (1956) and his silkscreen and related series based on a news photograph of Mick Jagger, Swingeing London 67, came to define an era in which new commodities, mass production, mass media and celebrity came to the fore. His groundbreaking exhibitions and installations influenced curatorial practice in the 20th century and into the next; and his importance beyond contemporary art was demonstrated when he was asked to design the cover of the Beatles’ White Album in 1968.

In this book, acclaimed writer Michael Bracewell presents a concise introduction to this deeply complex artist. Written from a personal perspective, it discusses Hamilton’s work in relation to the music, film, and popular culture of the day, with examples from his oeuvre, and features photographs and quotes from Hamilton throughout.

Richard Hamilton: Introspective traces the heterogeneous trajectory of Richard Hamilton’s life and work as he blazed a trail through pop art and beyond. A companion piece to the 2003 publication Retrospective—a catalogue raisonné in which images were reproduced without commentary—this book was conceived by Hamilton during a period of reduced mobility due to a broken hip and was left unfinished at the time of his death. It is published as Hamilton left it in 2011, with blank pages and pagination.

Richard Hamilton (1922–2011) was an English painter and collage artist whose 1955 exhibition Man, Machine and Motion, along with his 1956 collage Just What Is it That Makes Today’s Home So Different, So Appealing? are often considered by critics and historians to be the earliest works of pop art. He entered the Royal Academy of Arts at the age of 16, and later taught at his old alma mater, mentoring a number of students including Peter Blake and David Hockney. Through mutual friends, Hamilton was introduced to Paul McCartney, subsequently producing the cover art for the Beatles’ White Album (1968).

In 1949 Richard Hamilton created the Reaper print series as a reaction to Giedion’s 1948 book Mechanization Takes Command, in which he describes the mechanization of everyday life. Reproducing Hamilton’s complete Reaper series alongside illustrations created by Giedion plus related images, this publication brings together seven essays by renowned international scholars. Among the many topics discussed are Hamilton’s early works and exhibition installation practice, postwar British biotechnology and architecture, “Hippie Modernism” and the visual strategy of Giedion’s books.