Richard Hamilton : Introspective

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).

Alexander Bacon is a PhD candidate at Princeton University.