Born in London in 1922. Studied at the Royal Academy in 1938. His art training was interrupted by the war, when he was trained as an engineering draftsman. He taught for fourteen years, first at the Central School of Arts and Crafts, London and then at the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Since he stopped teaching in 1966 his sparse output of paintings has been widely seen. He did printmaking in the master workshops of Europe and America, but remains dedicated to craft. He was interested in exhibition and interior design.

Hamilton was responsible for the radical developments which transformed British art in the 1950s and 1960s. He had a seminal role in the birth of Pop Art. He is best known as a painter and print-maker, but his influence has been extended through teaching, writing and through a number of exhibitions such as Growth and Form (1951), Man, Machine and Motion (1955) and This is Tomorrow (1956). His publications include Collected Words (1953-82) in which he brings together in one volume the full range of his writings, together with reproductions of his paintings and prints. Hamilton's texts discuss his own work and there are articles on other artists, including a group of essays on Marcel Duchamp. The subjects and styles of Hamilton's writings echo the variety and density of his image making. His pictures are thoughtful, fastidious, informative and often humourous. His imagery comes from many sources, including journalism, cinema, advertising, television, sex symbolism and photographic image.