Born February 24, 1922 in London, Richard Hamilton is known as one of the main innovators of early Pop Art. From 1938 to 1940, Hamilton studied at the Royal Academy Schools and spent World War II working as a draftsman for the military, and subsequently attended art school. During the 1950s Hamilton began to muse on Pop Art, describing it as, “expendable, low-cost, mass-produced, young,” based on a discussion group he formed with other young artists and critics at London’s Institute of Contemporary Arts. 

Richard Hamilton (1922-2011) was one of the most influential artists during the twentieth century for his involvement in the innovation of early Pop Art. Born in London, he attended evening courses at St Martin’s School of Art, before enrolling at the Royal Academy School sin 1938. His studies were interrupted by the outbreak of war, when for a period he worked as a draughtsman. After the war, he studied at the Slade School of Art from 1948 to 1951. While at the Slade School, Hamilton began illustrating James Joyce’s Ulysses, an endeavor that preoccupied much of his life. In 1956, Hamilton participated in the seminal exhibition This is Tomorrow at Whitechapel Gallery, producing a collage entitled Just what is it that makes today’s homes so different, so appealing? In this collage he depicted a muscle man holding a paddle with the word ‘POP’ on it. From here, he thus gave birth to a whole ‘Pop Art’ movement. Hamilton drew directly upon the social changes he was witnessing, using found form imagery of protests, in portraits, in interiors and in landscapes, often employing digital technology and media to develop multiple manifestations of the same image through varying interpretations. 

Hamilton taught at the London Central School of Arts and Crafts, the Royal College of Art and the University of Newcastle upon Tyne before giving up teaching full-time in 1966. In 1993, he represented Britain at the Venice Biennale. 

Throughout his career, Hamilton exhibited internationally, and his work is held by almost every major museum in the world. In 2014, Tate Modern, London held a major retrospective exhibition at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid. 

Richard Hamilton passed away at age 89 in 2011, in Oxfordshire, England.