Lithograph, screenprint, pochoir and cosmetic on paper
Tate Collection
Works with images
General Collection
Collection
<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/richard-hamilton-1244" aria-label="More by Richard Hamilton" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">Richard Hamilton</a>
Fashionplate
Purchased 1983
adults
body
consumerism
contemporary society
emotions, concepts and ideas
eye
fashion
fine arts and music
formal qualities
fragmentation
hair
head / face
lifestyle and culture
objects
people
photographic
photography lamp
social comment
society
woman
<p><span>Fashion-plate</span> is a print related to the series <span>Cosmetic Studies</span> in which Hamilton put together fragments of photographs of models from fashion magazines. They demonstrated Hamilton’s fondness for re-using and re-defining recognisable images in a new context. Here, he used photographs of actress Sophia Loren taken from a magazine. In collaboration with photographer Tony Evans, Hamilton then shot photographic studio equipment. These frame the portrait and also emphasise the fashion and pop art imagery. Hamilton then built up collage elements and stencilling (pochoir) using actual cosmetics.</p><p><em>Gallery label, July 2017</em></p>
paper print lithograph screenprint pochoir cosmetic
5 January 2010 – 25 November 2011
2011-11-25
5 January 2010 – 25 November 2011
2011-11-25
2010-01-05
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2010-01-05
Richard Hamilton Lodge Display
Collection based display
8 February 2013 – 2 February 2014
2014-02-02
8 February 2013 – 12 May 2013
2013-05-12
2013-02-08
Tate Liverpool (Liverpool, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/liverpool/
13 June 2013 – 22 September 2013
2013-09-22
2013-06-13
Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt (Frankfurt, Germany)
http://www.schirn.de
18 October 2013 – 2 February 2014
2014-02-02
2013-10-18
Lentos Kunstmuseum Linz (Linz, Austria)
http://www.lentos.at/en/
2013-02-08
Glam! The Performance of Style
Exhibition
8 February 2013 – 2 February 2014
2014-02-02
1 June 2013 – 30 September 2013
2013-09-30
2013-06-01
Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt (Frankfurt, Germany)
http://www.schirn.de
1 October 2013 – 2 February 2014
2014-02-02
2013-10-01
Lentos Kunstmuseum Linz (Linz, Austria)
http://www.lentos.at/en/
2013-02-08
Glam!
Loan-out
20 February 2017 – 18 March 2018
2018-03-18
20 February 2017 – 18 March 2018
2018-03-18
2017-02-20
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2017-02-20
Sixty Years
Collection based display
1 May 2023 – 19 May 2024
2024-05-19
1 May 2023 – 19 May 2024
2024-05-19
2023-05-01
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2023-05-01
Richard Hamilton
Collection based display
Fashion-plate
image: 749 × 650 mm
Purchased 1983
<p>Hamilton was born and bred in London, attending the Slade School of Art from 1948-51. In 1952 he co-founded the <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/i/independent-group" title="Glossary definition for 'Independent Group'"><span>Independent Group</span></a>, a subsidiary of the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London, with fellow artist Eduardo Paolozzi (born 1924). An association of artists, architects, critics and academics, the Group focused their discussions on technology and contemporary culture. In 1956 Hamilton created some of his most famous images for <i>This is Tomorrow</i>, an exhibition at the Whitechapel Gallery. <i>Just what is it that makes today’s homes so different, so appealing?</i> 1956 (Kunsthalle Tübingen, Zundel Collection) is a <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/c/collage" title="Glossary definition for 'Collage'"><span>collage</span></a> which was reproduced as a poster for the exhibition. Hamilton subsequently remade the image as a <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/print" title="Glossary definition for 'Print'"><span>print</span></a> in two versions, one in the original 1950s style (1991) and the other, <i>Just what is it that makes today’s homes so different?</i> (1993,<b> </b>Tate <a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/hamilton-just-what-is-it-that-makes-todays-homes-so-different-p11358" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>P11358</span></a>), updated to reflect 1990s culture. In the original image, a semi-naked body builder holds a large red lollipop bearing the word ‘pop’ at the level of his genitals, signalling the arrival in Britain of ‘<a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/pop-art" title="Glossary definition for 'Pop art'"><span>Pop’ art</span></a>. Hamilton ironically defined this in 1957 as ‘Popular (designed for a mass audience), Transient (short term solution), Expendable (easily forgotten), Low cost, Mass produced, Young (aimed at youth), Witty, Sexy, Gimmicky, Glamorous, Big business’. (Quoted in <i>Richard Hamilton</i>, p.24.) He subsequently referred to pop culture as inducing a ‘peculiar mixture of reverence and cynicism ... in me’ (quoted in <i>Richard </i>Hamilton, p.84).
<br/>
<br/>Hamilton’s practice draws on and comments upon a wide range of popular culture media and current events. Imagery found in newspapers, magazines, television, film and advertising is subjected to collage and <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/painting" title="Glossary definition for 'Painting'"><span>painting</span></a> techniques. <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/photograph" title="Glossary definition for 'Photograph'"><span>Photographs</span></a> are painted over and paintings are made from photographs. The techniques of <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/s/screenprint" title="Glossary definition for 'Screenprint'"><span>screenprinting</span></a> and <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/l/lithography" title="Glossary definition for 'Lithography'"><span>lithography</span></a> provide further versions of an image. More recently Hamilton has worked with a Quantel Paintbox graphic imager which has allowed him to collage on computer and produce inkjet prints. Images often reappear in successive states of a large series. <i>Swingeing London</i>, for example, is the title of seven paintings and many more prints based on a 1967 press photograph of rock star Mick Jagger and Robert Fraser (Hamilton’s gallerist at the time) handcuffed together inside a police van. Hamilton’s treatment of the image in some of its states pushes at the limits of representation. Photographs of seductive women, <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/s/still-life" title="Glossary definition for 'Still life'"><span>still lives</span></a>, <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/l/landscape" title="Glossary definition for 'Landscape'"><span>landscapes</span></a>, interiors and buildings are all treated with a nod to art history and a questioning of the relationship between painting and photography, representation and reality. At the same time Hamilton’s use of the language of popular culture reflects on the nature of the imagery we all find so appealing today.
<br/>
<br/><b>Further reading;</b>
<br/><i>Richard Hamilton</i>, exhibition catalogue, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York 1974
<br/><i>Richard Hamilton</i>, exhibition brochure, Tate Gallery, London 1992
<br/><i>Richard Hamilton: New Technology and Printmaking</i>, exhibition catalogue, Alan Cristea Gallery, London 1998
<br/>
<br/>Elizabeth Manchester
<br/>February 2003
<br/></p>

Summary
2005-09-15T00:00:00
summary
SHORT_TEXT
<div class="text">
<p>
<i>Fashion-plate</i> is a print related to the series <i>Cosmetic Studies</i> in which Hamilton put together fragments of photographs of models from fashion magazines. They demonstrated Hamilton’s fondness for re-using and re-defining recognisable images in a new context. Here, he used photographs of actress Sophia Loren taken from a magazine. In collaboration with photographer Tony Evans, Hamilton then shot photographic studio equipment. These frame the portrait and also emphasise the fashion and pop art imagery. Hamilton then built up collage elements and stencilling (pochoir) using actual cosmetics.</p>
</div>

Online caption
2017-07-07T00:00:00
online-caption
ONLINE_CAPTION
<p><a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/hamilton-fashion-plate-p07937" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>P07937</span></a> <b>Fashion-plate</b> 1969–70
<br/>
<br/>Screenprint with offset lithography, hand colouring and collage 29 1/2 × 25 5/8 (749 × 650) on paper 39 × 27 1/4 (990 × 692) watermarked ‘FABRIANO’, offset lithography printed by Sergio and Fausta Tosi, Milan, screenprinting by Chris Prater at Kelpra Studio, published by Petersburg Press in an edition of 70
<br/>Inscribed ‘Tony's proof from Richard’ b.r.
<br/>Purchased at Sotheby's (Grant-in-Aid) 1983
<br/><i>Lit</i>: Hamilton, no.74, repr. p.55; Morphet, pp.86–7
<br/>
<br/>‘Fashion-plate’ is related to a series of ‘Cosmetic Studies’ of the same title made in 1969, in which Hamilton put together fragments of <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/photograph" title="Glossary definition for 'Photograph'"><span>photographs</span></a> of models from fashion magazines. With a full-length <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/painting" title="Glossary definition for 'Painting'"><span>painting</span></a> on this subject in mind, three preliminary studies were made, then,
<br/></p>
<p>Determined to make a <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/print" title="Glossary definition for 'Print'"><span>print</span></a> as a further step towards a painting, Hamilton photographed, in collaboration with Tony Evans, a carefully-chosen grouping of studio equipment for fashion photography, to act as a frame for a head-and-shoulders image, and to emphasise the ritualistic character of the fashion photo-session. This was <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/l/lithography" title="Glossary definition for 'Lithography'"><span>lithographed</span></a> in Milan, soft tonality and luminous whiteness being accentuated. Hamilton began building up on the sheet... <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/c/collage" title="Glossary definition for 'Collage'"><span>collage</span></a> elements which should recur throughout the print's <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/e/edition" title="Glossary definition for 'Edition'"><span>edition</span></a>. As this proceeded, the difficulty of obtaining sufficient identical collage material for an edition combined with the developing physical interest of this and other studies to change the project to one of an interlinked series of collage-<a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/d/drawing" title="Glossary definition for 'Drawing'"><span>drawings</span></a> (Morphet, p.86).</p>
<p>
<br/>A further twelve collages were made (repr. Morphet, pp.88–9). In order to solve the problem of obtaining identical collage elements for the editioned print he still wanted to make using the same lithographed framework, Hamilton borrowed transparencies from David Bailey and had the fragments he required printed from them, also in Milan (the high technical quality of Bailey's original ektochromes permitted reproduction whereas printing from already-printed source material would not have been satisfactory). Areas of flat colour were <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/s/screenprint" title="Glossary definition for 'Screenprint'"><span>screenprinted</span></a> at Kelpra. Pochoir was done by the artist (with the assistance of Ernie Donagh) in his own studio; finally Hamilton added handmade marks in cosmetics.
<br/>
<br/><b>Published in:</b>
<br/><i>The Tate Gallery 1982-84: Illustrated Catalogue of Acquisitions</i>, London 1986
<br/></p>

Catalogue entry
2004-10-13T00:00:00
catalogue-entry
CATALOGUE_ENTRY
adults body consumerism contemporary society emotions, concepts and ideas eye fashion fine arts and music formal qualities fragmentation hair head / face lifestyle and culture objects people photographic photography lamp social comment society woman