For decades the most continually provocative of British artists, Richard Hamilton (1922–2011, right) was long concerned with the great themes of Western painting. At the time of his death, he was completing plans for an exhibition at the National Gallery, London, to include the first public showing of what turned out to be his final work. Based on Balzac's short story, The Unknown Masterpiece, it depicts three masters of painting—Poussin, Courbet, and Titian—contemplating a reclining female nude and reflecting on the meaning of art. As with much of Hamilton's late work, the image was generated by computer but over-painted by hand. Knowing he would not complete it, Hamilton decided to show three preparatory versions simultaneously. In addition, he selected thirty paintings tracing the development of his art, featuring single-point perspective and the depiction of interior spaces, the sacred imagery of the Italian Renaissance, and allusions to the art of Marcel Duchamp.
Published by National Gallery Company/Distributed by Yale University Press
Exhibition Schedule:The National Gallery, London(10/10/12–01/13/13)
- ISBN10 1857095480
- ISBN13 9781857095487
- Publish Date 4 December 2012 (first published 26 February 2010)
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 4 March 2021
- Publish Country GB
- Imprint National Gallery Company Ltd
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 64
- Language English