Richard Hamilton - photomontage

Hamilton was born in Pimlico, London. Hamilton was born in London. He was educated at the Royal Academy Schools from 1938 to 1940, then studied engineering draughtsmanship at a Government Training Centre in 1940, then worked as a 'jig and tool' designer.

 He returned in 1946 to the Royal Academy Schools, from which he was expelled for 'not profiting from the instruction being given in the painting school' , then From 1948 to 1951 he continued to study at the Slade School of Art in London, where he mainly concentrated on etching. His study of James Joyce's novel "Ulysses", which he first illustrated in 1948, formed Hamilton's understanding of images.

In 1952 Richard Hamilton founded the "Independet Group" at the "Institute of Contemporary Arts" in London together with Eduardo Paolozzi, Lawrence Alloway and several other architects. This group turned out to be decisive for the development of English Pop Art. At that time he taught at the "Central School of Arts and Crafts" in London and at the "Royal College of Art" from 1957 to 1961.
In 1956 he created his most famous work "Just what is it that makes today's homes so different, so appealing?", which was initially intended as a poster for the now legendary exhibition "This is tomorrow". This collage is said to be the beginning of English Pop Art.

After a trip to New York in 1963, Richard Hamilton began to combine elements of photography and painting in his pictures. During the 1980s he intensively studied the opportunities provided by digital media and their effect on image perception and fine arts.
In 1992 the Tate Gallery in London showed a retrospective. In 2003 Museum Ludwig in Cologne hosted a work show organized in co-operation with the artist himself, entitled "Introspective". In 1993 Richard Hamilton represented Great Britan at the Venice Biennale.

Hamilton's early work was much influenced by D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson's 1913 text On Growth and Form. In 1952, at the first Independent Group meeting, held at the ICA, Hamilton was introduced to Eduardo Paolozzi's seminal presentation of collages produced in the late 1940s and early 1950s that are now considered to be the first standard bearers of Pop Art