Richard Hamilton

Mr. and Mrs. Paul Cornwall-Jones, London

London, Tate Gallery; Eindhoven, Stedelijk van Abbemuseum; Bern, Kunsthalle, Richard Hamilton, 1970, p. 33, no. 26, illustrated
Manchester, Whitworth Art Gallery, University of Manchester, Richard Hamilton: Prints, Multiples and Drawings, 1972, p. 23, no. 42, illustrated
New York, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum; Munich, Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus; Tübingen, Kunsthalle, Richard Hamilton, 1973-74, p. 26, no. 21, illustrated
Berlin, Nationalgalerie, Retrospective, 1974, p. 18, no. 11, illustrated
Bielefeld, Kunsthalle; Tübingen; Güttingen, Kunstverein, Richard Hamilton Studies 1937-1977, p. 103, no. 56, illustrated
Barcelona, MACBA; Cologne, Ludwig Museum, Richard Hamilton: Paintings and Drawings 1937 to 2002, 2003, p. 28, no. 75, illustrated in colour
New York, Dickinson Gallery, Hamilton, 2006, pp. 24-5, no. 3, illustrated in colour

Richard Hamilton, 'Hommage a Chrysler Corp.' Architectural Design, vol. xxviii, no. 3, March 1958, pp. 120-1
Etienne Lullin, Richard Hamilton Prints and Multiples 1939-2002, Düsseldorf 2003, pp. 68-71 

Richard Hamilton's exquisite and delicately executed Hommage à Chrysler Corp, 1957 is one of the few fully-realized preparatory works for his major work of the same title and date which resides in the permanent collection of the Tate Gallery, London.  Acquired by the museum in 1995 with the assistance from The Art Fund and the Friends of the Tate Gallery, Hommage à Chrysler Corp stands as an iconic image of British Pop art and confirms Hamilton's place as one of the leaders of the Independent Group - a radical circle of young artists including Nigel Henderson and, Eduardo Paolozzi and William Turnbull who looked to popular and commercial culture including movies, science fiction, advertising, and Pop music as their source for inspiration.  

 

Pre-dating the exploration of Pop Art in America by several years, the present work shows Richard Hamilton leading the avant-garde of the Pop movement in a work of seminal importance.  Partly a result of the Man, Machine and Motion exhibition of 1955, which was influenced by the Pop Art preoccupation of the Independent Group at the ICA, Hommage à Chrysler Corp explores the relationship between women and cars.  Produced in response to the clichéd car adverts of the 1950s, Hamilton sourced his material from popular imagery and sought to portray the American automobile as expressed by glossy magazines.  The sensual curves of the all-American Chrysler automobile, a popular and flashy symbol of the age, suitably recalls the shape of the female form.  The loose flowing lines and collaged element create a disconnected and slightly abstracted version of the Chrysler car, inviting interpretation and comparison, while echoing abstract paintings of the period.  There is an obvious display of affection for the vehicle, with the subtle touches of colour and shading and sparkling silver collage.  The inherent glamour of Hamilton's source material demanded enrichment, which Hamilton skilfully employs.

 

With Hommage à Chrysler Corp, Hamilton sought to engage with life at a banal level without fully relinquishing a commitment to fine art.  The technical mastery of his medium and the refined and subtle fragmentation of his subject transforming it into almost-womanly form exhibits Hamilton's intimate exploration with this theme which was to become a signature classic in his oeuvre and go on to influence subsequent arbiters of Pop on both sides of the Atlantic, among them Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein and David Hockney.