Just what was it that made yesterday's homes so different, so appealing? Upgrade

2004

Not on view

This print is based on a small collage from 1956 that Hamilton made for “This is Tomorrow,” an exhibition of the Independent Group at the Whitechapel Art Gallery in London. An icon of early British Pop art, the densely composed collage teems with images clipped from magazines according to the artist’s prescribed inventory: Man, Woman, Humanity, History, Food, Newspapers, Cinema, TV, Telephone, Comics (picture information), Words (textual information), Tape recording (aural information), Cars, Domestic Appliances, and Space. Hamilton first reproduced and refined the collage in 1992 by scanning it into a computer (MMA 2004.339). After further advances in ink-jet printing, he made this “upgraded” version on an Apple Macintosh in 2004.

Artwork Details

Title: Just what was it that made yesterday's homes so different, so appealing? Upgrade
Artist: Richard Hamilton (British, London 1922–2011 Oxfordshire)
Artist: Roderic Hamilton (British, active 20th–21st century)
Date: 2004
Medium: Inkjet print
Edition: 21/25 + 5 artist's proofs
Dimensions: 16 1/2 × 11 3/4 in. (41.9 × 29.8 cm)
Classification: Prints
Credit Line: Gift of the artist, 2004
Object Number: 2004.527
Rights and Reproduction: © 2025 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art

More Artwork

By Richard Hamilton

In the same medium

From the same time and place

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Just what was it that made yesterday's homes so different, so appealing?, Richard Hamilton British, Electrophotographic print — Just what was it that made yesterday's homes so different, so appealing?
Richard Hamilton
Waddington Graphics
1992

Lobby, Richard Hamilton British, Color collotype and screenprint — Lobby
Richard Hamilton
1984

Self-Portrait, Richard Hamilton British, Color screenprint — Self-Portrait
Richard Hamilton
1967

Portrait of Dieter Roth, Richard Hamilton British, Inkjet print — Portrait of Dieter Roth
Richard Hamilton
1998

Swingeing London 67, Richard Hamilton British, Etching, aquatint, photoetching, and collage, embossed and die stamped with metallic foil — Swingeing London 67
Richard Hamilton
Petersburg Press
1968

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