15 September 2011 Last updated at 10:21

In pictures: Richard Hamilton

British artist Richard Hamilton, regarded as a pioneer in the field of Pop art, has died at the age of 89 following a short illness.

The State (1993). Humbrol enamel and cloth on Cibachrome on canvas. Courtesy of Richard Hamilton

Tate director Sir Nicholas Serota said Hamilton died as he "would have wished", working on his art. The State, from 1993, was part of a series of manipulated news photographs.

Swingeing London 67f (1968-69). Screenprint on canvas, acrylic and collage. Courtesy of Richard Hamilton

One of the artist's most celebrated works was Swingeing London, a series of prints depicting Mick Jagger's arrest for drug possession. The other figure in the work was Robert Fraser, Hamilton's art dealer.

Even the artist's flat became a work of art - exhibited at the 1958 Ideal Home Exhibition. At the time, the apartment seemed to be a vision of the future, featuring a cocktail cabinet, a control panel for lighting, a television screen and a writing desk built into a nine foot-high "bachelor's column".

Just What Is It that Makes Today's Homes So Different, So Appealing? by Richard Hamilton

Hamilton was known as the "father" of Pop art - which embraced art from advertising, media and culture at large. He described the genre 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; and last but not least, Big Business."

Treatment Room (1983-84). Installation. Courtesy of Richard Hamilton

During his career, Hamilton exhibited at some of the world's most famous art galleries, including the Tate in London and the Guggenheim Museum in New York. His later work focused on political figures including the 1983 installation of a looped video of Margaret Thatcher mouthing silently over a hospital bed.

Hamilton's 2008 artwork of Tony Blair was entitled Shock And Awe and depicted the former prime minister as a cowboy. The artist said he produced the image after he saw Blair "looking smug" following a conference with US president George Bush.

Hamilton was also preoccupied with design and its relationship to the modern world. He produced a series of functional objects stamped with a "Richard" logo, including this ashtray and carafe, as a way of exploring the consumer age, and art's place within it.

The Subject (1988-90). Oil on canvas. Courtesy of Richard Hamilton

A retrospective of his more politically-inclined work was held at London's Serpentine Gallery in 2010. Many of the screenprints, paintings and installations depicted conflict in Northern Ireland, Iraq and Palestine.

Portrait of Hugh Gaitskill as a Famous Monster of Filmland (1964). Oil and collage on photograph on panel. Courtesy of Richard Hamilton

Portrait of Hugh Gaitskill as a Famous Monster of Filmland was one of Hamilton's earliest works, created in 1964. The artist famously designed the barren cover of the Beatles' White Album in 1968, as well as its poster insert, a printed collage of photographs of the Fab Four.

Hers Is A Lush Station, by Richard Hamilton

Hers Is A Lush Situation, from 1958, was part of a series inspired by automobile design. Hamilton was exposing the parallels between the body of a motor car, in this case a 1957 Buick, and the female form. He thought of the links between design and eroticism as "the rhetoric of persuasion".

In 2007, renowned photographer David Bailey captured Hamilton on film. A major retrospective of the artist's work is scheduled to open in 2013 at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, before travelling around the world.

Entertainment & Arts

In pictures: Richard Hamilton

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