Richard Hamilton, 1922-2011 | reviews, news & interviews
Richard Hamilton, 1922-2011
Richard Hamilton, 1922-2011
Hamilton's work was too challenging, too difficult to pin down
![](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/mast_image_landscape/public/mastimages/6aacbde6ecec0b18a9466ce52dda7096.jpg?itok=irN0sg0Y)
Hard on the heels of the death of Lucian Freud comes the departure of another British art great, an artist who was Freud’s exact contemporary but who seems to belong in a different aesthetic universe – Richard Hamilton. While he was the more influential of the two, by some distance, Hamilton was never a contender for that nonsensical soubriquet "Britain’s greatest living artist". His work was too challenging, too difficult to pin down and it never told Britain anything it wanted to hear about itself.
Hard on the heels of the death of Lucian Freud comes the departure of another British art great, an artist who was Freud’s exact contemporary but who seems to belong in a different aesthetic universe – Richard Hamilton. While he was the more influential of the two, by some distance, Hamilton was never a contender for that nonsensical soubriquet "Britain’s greatest living artist". His work was too challenging, too difficult to pin down and it never told Britain anything it wanted to hear about itself.
Share this article
Add comment
Subscribe to theartsdesk.com
Thank you for continuing to read our work on theartsdesk.com. For unlimited access to every article in its entirety, including our archive of more than 15,000 pieces, we're asking for £5 per month or £40 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.
To take a subscription now simply click here.
And if you're looking for that extra gift for a friend or family member, why not treat them to a theartsdesk.com gift subscription?
more Visual arts
!['Thatcher Unmasked', 1986 by Peter Kennard](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/mastimages/Peter%20Kennard_Thatcher%20Unmasked_1986.jpg?itok=5l9AxAqi)
!['Ineligible for Death', 2024 by Dominique White, Max Mara Art Prize for Women 2022-24](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/mastimages/Dominique%20White_ineligible%20for%20death_2024.jpg?itok=Or8wdFI-)
![Bill Viola](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/mastimages/Bill%20Viola_0.jpg?itok=OxrG5F3D)
![Sharpening the Saws, 1927, by Oleksandr Bohomazov. Oil on canvas](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/mastimages/U%20saws.jpg?itok=J1bAOd6U)
![Children’s Game #40: Chivichanas, La Habana, Cuba, 2023 by Francis Alÿs](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/mastimages/Frances%20Chivichanas.jpg?itok=i_Y4i1U4)
![Freedom Hunters, 1977 by Gavin Jantjes, screenprint on paper](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/mastimages/Gavin%20Jantjes%20Freedom%20Hunters%201977%20Screen%20print%20on%20paper%20100%20%C3%97%2070%20cm%20Photo.%20Ann%20Purkis%20Image%20courtesy%20the%20artist%20Gavin%20Jantjes%20%C2%A9%20Gavin%20Jantes%2C%20licensed%20by%20DACS..jpg?itok=oJbrW2XX)
!['Supremely strange wall-mounted objects': part of Laura Aldridge's installation at Jupiter Artland](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/mastimages/laura%20aldridge%20installation%20view%201%20by%20author%20%282%29small_0.jpg?itok=C8MKlSNg)
![Installation view of Revelations, 2024 by Judy Chicago at Serpentine North](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/mastimages/Chicago%201.jpeg?itok=NChDbymF)
!['The Roll Call', 1874 by Elizabeth Butler](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/mastimages/Now%20Elizabeth%20Butler%2C%20The%20Roll%20Call%2C%201874.jpg?itok=uzso8Rkh)
!['Muse', 1910](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/mastimages/Muse%2C%201910%204R00900_1000x1000_0.jpg?itok=mLF188qF)
![Gabriele Münter Listening (Portrait of Jawlensky), 1909](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/mastimages/Blue%20Gabriele%20Mu%CC%88nter%2C%20Listening%20%28Portrait%20of%20Jawlensky%29%2C%201909.%20Lenbachhaus%20Munich%2C%20Donation%20of%20Gabriele%20Mu%CC%88nter%2C%201957%20%C2%A9%20DACS%202024_0.jpg?itok=s_89ZOza)
!['Max Bill teaching Theory of Forms at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Zurich', 1946, by Ernst Scheidegger](https://theartsdesk.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/mastimages/07.%20Ernst%20Scheideggersmall.jpg?itok=gw2iAMIl)
Comments
...
...
...
...