Self-portrait with Yellow

Richard Hamilton British

Not on view

In 1980–81 Hamilton took Polaroid photographs of himself through a pane of glass on which he had applied strokes of oil paint. He manipulated the lights, looked directly into the lens, and carefully positioned himself with regard to the brushstrokes. He returned to the project several times, scanning, enlarging, and retouching the portraits using Quantel Paintbox. This large version is one of two made through pigment transfer in 1998. “Computer-generated images,” explains Hamilton, “lack the smell of turpentine and the touch of a bristle brush—they can look clinical, artificial, or gaudy. The many variations on these self-portraits all attempt to get some paint back into the process.”

Self-portrait with Yellow, Richard Hamilton (British, London 1922–2011 Oxfordshire), Pigment transfer print

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