I was privileged to know Artist Richard Hamilton from 1995 onwards. We met on and off as I helped him with software tools, page-makeup and occasionally integrating his Quantel Printbox with his Mac. I worked with Quantel at the time demonstrating their high-end retouching systems.

He used to have a share in the Pied a Terre restaurant and after selling this (and having a final meal on the house) he was removing original work (his own and that of other Artists) to his home late one night with Rita Donagh. It wouldn’t all fit in the car so I carried his copy of Andy Warhol’s Chairman Mao back to Northend along the M40 in my Volvo. So tempting just to carry on driving.

Every visit I made to see Richard and Rita was interesting. The conversation with both of them simultaneously quotidian and exotic. It was like living Art history. From impromptu making of raspberry jam to a gin & tonic next to Richard’s re-creation of Duchamp’s ‘The Bride Stripped Bare by her Bachelors, Even (The Large Glass)’ it was never dull. How could it be?

It was a sad day for Art and ideas when he died in 2011.

I am thinking of compiling a brief memoir of these visits to be published later (possibly with the portraits). These unresolved portraits were made during and after a number of visits to North End where Richard lived and worked, with Rita Donagh. The source photographs were taken with a low-res (state of the art at the time!) early Ricoh digital camera at 640 x 480 pixels. Richard was interested in all things digital and quite happy with the cross-over between real and digital worlds.  

Any comments on this project please Contact me.

Status: Ongoing.
Size: n/s
Price: n/a
Year: 1995+
Website: n/a 

See also Parcel Farce. A response to a Christmas Card by Richard Hamilton. LINKS.