LONDON.- Works by the British standard bearer of Pop Art, Richard Hamilton, and by many of his famous contemporaries, feature in Bonhams British Master Prints sale in London on 17 June.

Hamilton established his reputation with a series of collages produced in the mid-1950s such as Just what is it that makes today’s homes so different, so appealing? He was involved with print making for most of his creative life using the medium to explore the many themes and ideas prompted by his restless intellectual curiosity. Untitled, for example, a work from 1950 when Hamilton was studying at the Slade School of Art, can be seen as one step on the way to the creation of Structure, a piece which the artist himself identified as one of this significant early works. Untitled is unique, taking the form of a greetings card from Hamilton and his wife bearing the signature ‘Best wishes, from Richard and Terry’. It is estimated at £3,000-5,000.

A later work, Collected Words 1953-1982 is a boxed set of a deluxe edition of the book of the same name and nine signed screen prints representing the artist’s career during those years. It is estimated at £7,000-9,000. Other Hamilton works include Bathers estimated at £2,000-3,000 and Oculist Witness at £1,000-1,500 which reflects Hamilton’s deep immersion in the works of the prominent French conceptual artist Marcel Duchamp.

Many of Hamilton's prominent contemporaries were members of the London Group, one of the oldest artist led organisations in the world. Founded in 1913 as a challenge to the domination of the Royal Academy of Arts, its members have included many of the leading names in British art. The 1950s and 60s were a strong period for the Group, and works by members Leon Kossoff, Frank Auerbach, David Hockney appear in the sale.

Three prints from Auerbach’s very rare Six Drypoints of the Nude from 1954 are particularly important. There was no final edition of this series, just a dozen completed sets which the artist gave to friends. They were based on life drawings and as the artist recalls the process of making the drypoints was particularly time consuming. “The drypoints were scratched on to pieces of alloy six inches square, bought from Romanys of Camden High Street for 6d. each. They were done with a nail, set into a pen holder with sealing wax, and printed by rubbing the back of a spoon over the back of the dampened paper. It was all very laborious; there was a lot of burnishing.” The three works, Nude in profile, Nude seated on a folding chair and Nude seated with arms above her head are estimated at £7,000-10,000 each. Leon Kossoff’s rare Christchurch Spring carries an estimate of £5,000-7,000 and Marguerites at £7,000-10,000 stands out among the seven works by David Hockney.

Bonhams Head of Prints, Rupert Worrall, said: “The 1950s and ‘60s were strong decades for British printmaking as the works in the sale show. Some of the greatest names in British art were forging their reputations at this time and saw prints as an intrinsic and important part of their output.”