Eduardo Paolozzi and Wittgenstein

Sir Eduardo Paolozzi (1924–2005) was a British sculptor and artist whose beautiful mind conceived such masterpieces as the mosaic designs for Tottenham Court Road Station or the sculpture ‘Head of Invention’ installed in front of the Design Museum on the Thames at Butler’s Wharf, London. Son of Italian immigrants, he was born in Scotland and is widely considered to be one of the fathers of pop art. The screenprint on paper ‘Wittgenstein at the Cinema Admires Betty Grable’ (1965) shows the artist’s fascination with popular culture, science fiction and advertising. The print resides now at the Leamington Art Gallery in Leamington (UK) and is from the ‘As Is When’ portfolio of 12 screeprints (formerly given to Exhall Grange Primary School) which was inspired by the life and theories of philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein. An elaborate collage, this print employs fragments of text, abstract patterns, pictures of machines, together with other characters: Paolozzi described the prints as ‘a kind of combined autobiography’. Shall we add: the autobiography of a Beautiful Thinker. For an introduction to Sir Eduardo Paolozzi’s work and life, please start from his Wikipedia page

Originally published at thebeautifulthinking.wordpress.com on October 11, 2016.