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Hamilton, Richard.
[A foundational document of the Pop Art movement]. Man Machine and Motion.
Publisher: Hatton Gallery, Durham:
Date of Publication: 1955
Stock Code: 14789
First edition, one of 1000 copies only. Octavo, stapled pamphlet., pp., 46, [4]. Grey pictorial wraps. Catalogue designed and typewritten on off-white and grey paper by Anthony Froshaug for the titular exhibition by Hamilton at the Hatton Gallery, King’s College, Durham (now Newcastle University), later the ICA, London. With 222 items described, pictured throughout. Catalogue notes by Reyner Banham, preface by Laurence Gowing and Hamilton. Staples rusted as usual, light spots of soiling to lower cover. Slight creasing to upper right corner of first twenty leaves or so. Contents clean and neat. A near-fine copy. Known as the father of Pop Art Richard Hamilton (1922–2011) was one of the most influential artists of the 20th century. Man, Machine, and Motion was an installation of 176 printed black and white photographs on 54 dibond panels, supported by a steel structure, originally mounted at the Hatton Gallery, and later the ICA in London, it is now installed at the Museo National Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid. The whole exhibition was conceived by Hamilton when he was lecturing in fine art at King’s College, Newcastle, this catalogue accompanied the exhibition and was produced in house at the University. Hamilton viewed the installation as ‘a visual study of man’s relationship with moving machines’. Heavily influenced by Cubism, Dadaism, Futurism, and the cinema, the year after this pamphlets publication saw Hamilton, as part of the Independent Group, exhibit as part of Group 2 in the This is Tomorrow exhibition at the Whitechapel Art Gallery. A watershed in post-war art Hamilton’s collage “Just what is it that makes today's homes so different, so appealing?” is credited as the first iconic Pop Art image. This catalogue is one of Hamilton’s earliest appearances in print (possibly his first) and provides both descriptive and creative responses to the installation, adding glosses to the machines depicted.
£2500.00