Richard Hamilton. Retrospective

A pioneer artist and referent of European Pop Art, Richard Hamilton (London, 1922–2011) began his training at St. Martin’s School of Art, and later studied at the Royal Academy Schools and the Slade School of Art, London. Too young for service during the Second World War, he was trained in engineering draughtsmanship at a Government Training Centre. In the early 1950s, while working as a model maker, and through his friendship with the artist and photographer Nigel Henderson, he exhibited at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) in London. It was the start of a series of exhibitions that radically questioned traditional exhibition formats. Also, during those years he was a member of the Independent Group, a collective formed in 1950 at the ICA by a group of architects, writers and artists. Their discussions contributed greatly to the development of British Pop Art.

Hamilton was one of the first to embrace the theories of art critic Lawrence Alloway, for whom there was no hierarchy of values between Pop and the fine arts. Shown at the Whitechapel Gallery, London, in 1956, it was the collage titled Just What is it that Makes Today’s Homes So Different, So Appealing? that proved decisive in this regard, making Hamilton a true pioneer of Pop. He was one of the first to use the word ‘pop’, which appears on a lollipop in this collage.

One of the most influential British artists of the twentieth century, with an extensive production in painting, drawing, printmaking, photography and design, Hamilton put forward a profound critical reflection on consumer society and the contemporary media imaginary, without ever renouncing the ironic and playful aspects of his work.

Hisearly exhibitions include Growth and Form, at the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA), London, 1951; Man, Machine and Motion, Hatton Gallery, Newcastle, and ICA, London, 1955; This is Tomorrow, Whitechapel Gallery, London, 1956; and An Exhibit, Hatton Gallery, Newcastle, 1957. Among his numerous retrospectives are Tate Gallery, London, 1970 and 1992; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1973; MACBA, Barcelona, and Museum Ludwig, Cologne, 2003. A major retrospective was held at Tate Modern, London, and at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, in 2014. His work is part of numerous public and private collections, the most noteworthy of which are Tate, London, with a significant volume of works, while the Kunstmuseum Winterthur, Switzerland, has a large number of graphic works.