Towards a definitive statement on the coming trends in men's wear and accessories (c) Adonis in Y-fronts

Richard HamiltonWW-1962-137741

1962·Oil and collage on panel·61 × 81.3 cm (24 × 32 in.)

<p>Richard Hamilton was a pioneer of the European Pop Art movement—which drew extensively on mass media and advertising sources—and a central figure in British art. This potent, jewel-like work is the third painting in a series in which the title and concept of each composition came from a headline for an annual male fashion feature published in Playboy. According to Hamilton, the theme for this piece was the "timeless aspect of male beauty." His version of the classical male torso was appropriated from an advertisement for a chest-flexing tool found in a Mr. Universo magazine of 1960. The subtitle references the popular song "Venus in Blue Jeans" from 1962, the same year this work was created.</p>

Catalogue

Year: 1962
Medium: Oil and collage on panel
Dimensions: 61 × 81.3 cm (24 × 32 in.)
Collection: Art Institute of Chicago
Artist: Richard Hamilton

Artist

Richard Hamilton

Painting

Richard William Hamilton was an English painter and collage artist. His 1955 exhibition Man, Machine and Motion and his 1956 collage Just what is it that makes today's homes so different, so appealing?, produced for the This Is Tomorrow exhibition of the Independent Group in London, are considered by critics and historians to be among the earliest works of pop art. A major retrospective of his work was at Tate Modern in 2014.

London, UK

Full artist profile →