Richard Hamilton, Just What is it That Makes Today’s Homes So Different, So Appealing? (1956) collage 10 1/4” x 9 3/4”
Richard Hamilton was one of the first artists to create what was considered as pop art. He was a British pop artist who created collages using ads from newspapers and magazines to create his artwork. This type of artwork, called pop art, was given a definition was found in a letter he wrote to Alison and Peter Smithson in 1957, saying:
“Pop Art is: popular, transient, expendable, low-cost, mass-produced, young, witty, sexy, gimmicky, glamorous, and Big Business.” -Richard Hamilton
Pop art stressed values of the day that were common. In this piece we see a small vacuum that was radical to have during this time, but it made cleaning your house easy for your maid if you were wealthy enough to have one. The viewer sees in the background “The Jazz Singer,” the first talking movie with Al Jolson in it, a Ford lampshade which explains how popular Ford Motors was at the time – the primary car company, an industrially manufactured rug, a mostly nude, adult female, and many more things. At this time a tape recorder was like our modern day iPod touch, which is also seen in the collage, and a male model using a tootsie pop to cover his area. The physical culture of this time is expressed through his model-stature by making the body an object and changing the way it looks to make it more appealing.
The last few things we see are directly indicative of where our country was at this time and where artists were at this time. There is a tropical plant which tells us that America was importing tropical plants at this time, the ceiling represents the moon and this tells us the importance of the space race that everyone is obsessed with going to the moon, and there is a John Ruskin portrait on the wall. The fact that there is a Ruskin portrait in the room tells us that he was disappointed in the fact that artists of this time were not using anymore academic or mythological subjects, rather they were turning to modern, industrial art or pop art. I personally have enjoyed pop art, and I also enjoyed abstractionism, however, I do understand that Ruskin was probably very frustrated because what he felt was true art was not being used anymore. He felt that true art was not valued anymore.
I have included a video below that is a documentary of Richard Hamilton. Please click the link below to view it!
I found this very interesting. I think pop art is very expressionist, and it is a way that people can express how they feel about society or their own experiences in life. It is really neat to hear him talk in this documentary and understand his view on art versus just viewing his art. It really helps me understand his style. The video below gave me a better understanding of pop art and its essence – how it began. Click the link below to view it:
Finally, I have concluded that pop art is by far one of the most interesting types of art. Thank you for your time! I hope you have enjoyed reading!
-Gallery 9310, The Owner
Gallery 9310 