In memoriam

Richard Hamilton
(24 February 1922 - 13 September 2011)

Self portrait with yellow (1998)
Dye construction print, 39 x 39 cm,
Alan Cristea Gallery, London

  In 1956, Hamilton created a work that would change art and design, and our perception of them. This iconic piece was a collage named Just what is it that makes today's homes so different, so appealing?: Pop art was born.

  Born in London, he studied in the Royal Academy of Arts (where he was expelled) and the Slade School of Fine Art. In 1956 an exhibiton called This Is Tomorrow showcased his work and that of other British artists of the Independent Group, launching the phenomenon of Pop art, a.k.a. popular culture shown in galleries. Richard's work was acclaimed and made even more popular thanks to his design for The Beatles' White Album of 1968.

Just what is it... (1956)
Collage on paper, 26 x 25 cm,
Kunsthalle Tübingen

  His works mostly use magazine cuttings (later digital imagery) which, in a way, turned familiar objects into unique creations and imbued them with humour and irony (his most famous work, right, is the best example). This is was Pop art's aim, and it began ten years before Warhol's soup cans. His subjects were America's culture of consumerism and, later in his life, political and social issues, like Tony Blair's cowboy portrait from  2007.
 
 Richard Hamilton didn't enjoy the fame of Warhol or Roy Lichtenstien - probably for the best -, but without him they may not have existed, for he was the "father of Pop art": the re-inventor and humourist behind our lazy culture of mindless consumerism.