55
Richard Hamilton
Composer Series
- Estimate
- £4,000 - 6,000♠
£9,375
Lot Details
Four offset prints and postcards, on wove paper,
1972
all I. 14.5 x 14.5 cm (5 3/4 x 5 3/4 in);
all S. 25.3 x 25 cm (9 7/8 x 9 7/8 in)
all S. 25.3 x 25 cm (9 7/8 x 9 7/8 in)
signed and numbered 37/50, 46/50, 47/50, and 48/50 respectively in pencil (there were also 5 artist’s proofs), and inscribed ‘Wish you were here – Richard’ in black ink on the reverse, published by Studio Marconi, Milan, all generally in very good condition, all framed.
Full-Cataloguing
Catalogue Essay
Each offset print comprises a unique postcard of Milan, with Hamilton’s ‘composer’ laid over the top and framed together as a multiple. The ‘composer’ developed from Hamilton’s 1969 conceptual Chicago Project, in which he instructed Ed Paschke, a young Chicago artist, to: ‘Take a piece of paper, 1 inch high by 1 ½ inches wide. The hole should be square with a corner of the paper, 1 inch to the left of the right hand edge and ¾ inch from the bottom edge.’ The resulting ‘composer’ could be placed over any postcard to isolate an unexpected portion of the image and thereby unburden the artist of aesthetic responsibility.
Literature