Above: Digital reproduction of a detail of the 1992 Royal Academy catalogue cover, depicting an enlargement of a colour photocopy of the reproduction of Benches as published in Works/Texts to 1974. The framed portion is the focus of the series The Flower Before the Bench.

In 1971 Tom Phillips completed the painting Benches. Taking picture postcards as its source matter, and drawing on the theme of human mortality, the project spawned not only the large finished canvas but also dozens of smaller canvases and projects, including collage, gouache, and tapestry.

The Tate Gallery acquired Benches, granting ownership to the ordinary people it depicts. A poster version became a popular seller. Tom magnified portions of the photoreproduction and created more canvases, celebrating the nuance and dissolution of offset lithography.

These canvases were photographically reproduced by publishers and galleries. Tom magnified the reproductions. The cycle continued.

In 1992 Benches was featured in posters for the Tom Phillips retrospective at the Royal Academy. The London Underground was briefly haunted by the one-quarter profile of the woman seen above, a detail from the painting.

Now, with the 30-year anniversary of the completion of the painting, we assemble the prodigious family of Benches and look to its future in the 21st Century.  > >

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