Richard Hamilton: Respective

[ Exhibition )

Photograph of two men with their hands cuffed together, shielding their faces from the viewer. The photograph is encased in a metal frame made to look like the door of a car.

Father of British Pop art, Richard Hamilton (1922 – 2011) was one of the most influential artists of the 20th century.

Drawn from our outstanding collection of British Pop Art, the display includes some of Hamilton’s most celebrated works, including Hers is a Lush Situation (1958); Adonis in Y-Fronts (1963) and Swingeing London ’67 (1968).

Perhaps best known for defining British Pop art in the late 1950s as – Popular, transient, expendable, low-cost, mass-produced, young, witty, sexy, gimmicky, glamorous, and Big Business – Hamilton’s work does not offer an instantaneous art for ready consumption, instead it champions the primacy of the idea and by doing so, asks the viewer to consider how we receive and understand the multitude of images and information that informs our modern world.

This exhibition brings together the full-range of work by Hamilton in our collection. It includes internationally important works including Hers is a Lush Situation (1958) and Swingeing London 67 (1968) alongside early studies from the 1950s and later works from the 1970s onwards that reveal his engagement with new digital technology. Behind the sense of playfulness in his work lies an enquiring mind able to create visual and verbal puns that explore and challenge the way we understand images and which still resonate today.

Digital tour of Richard Hamilton: Respective

Explore the exhibition virtually

Did you miss visiting the exhibition when it was open? Or would you like to relieve it again?

Well, you’re in luck because we have a digital tour of the exhibition ready for you to watch at home. Take a closer look at works by the Father of British Pop, Richard Hamilton, whenever and wherever you like.