Richard Hamilton’s Illustrations for “Ulysses”
Richard Hamilton found inspiration in James Joyce’s “Ulysses” during his military service in the late forties, which led him to create preliminary drawings (currently held in the British Museum). In the early eighties, Hamilton embarked on a print project to visually depict chapters from “Ulysses.” His encounter with master printer Aldo Crommelynk came about when he contributed the print “Picassos meninas” to Propylaen Verlag’s “Hommage à Picasso.”
“Ulysses,” comprising 18 chapters as detailed on its Wikipedia page, served as the basis for Hamilton’s illustrations. Out of the 18, he chose to illustrate 7 chapters along with a frontispiece.
The illustrations are as follows:
- Frontispiece: Depicting Leopold Bloom
- “Oxen of the Sun”: In Horne’s House
- “Cyclops”: Featuring Finn MacCool
- “Circe”: The Transmogrification of Bloom
- “Lotus-Eaters”: Portraying the Foreseeing of Bloom’s Pale Body
- “Sirens”: With a Focus on Bronze by Gold
- “Ithaca”: Showcasing The Heaven Tree of Stars
- “Aelous”: Exploring the Production of a Grand Daily Organ
Aldo Crommelynck took charge of proofing and editioning the initial 5 prints. Kurt Zein in Vienna contributed two prints with color. Lastly, “The Heaven Tree of Stars” was created using a Quantel Paint Box in Hamilton’s Northend studio, and the edition was printed by Ian Cartwright at Circa Studio in London.
