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Adonis in Y fronts

Artist and publisher Richard Hamilton British
Printer Kelpra Studio Limited British
1963
Not on view
Hamilton sourced the image of the muscular torso in this print and its corresponding painting (Art Institute of Chicago) from an advertisement for chest expanders in a body-building magazine. He extended the waist to include the figure’s hips, twisted into a slight contrapposto stance and donning "Y front" underpants. The title for the work is a pun on a popular song at the time, "Venus in Blue Jeans." To create this screenprint, based on his painting, Hamilton reproduced the brushstrokes in a silvery ink on the right and enlarged the figure from the advertisement, replicating the halftone printing of the original. The Met’s impression of this print is an H.C., or hors commerce, indicating that it is a working proof outside the published edition.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Adonis in Y fronts
  • Artist and publisher: Richard Hamilton (British, London 1922–2011 Oxfordshire)
  • Printer: Kelpra Studio Limited (British, second half 20th century) and the artist
  • Date: 1963
  • Medium: Screenprint from twelve stencils
  • Dimensions: plate: 23 7/8 x 31 7/8 in. (60.6 x 81 cm)
    sheet: 24 7/8 x 32 15/16 in. (63.2 x 83.6 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: Gift of Jim Dine, 1979
  • Object Number: 1979.667.12
  • Rights and Reproduction: © 2025 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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