In mid-1966, the Beatles They were in the midst of a tour of Japan where they gave five recitals in just three days, at Tokyo’s famous Nippon Budokan stadium.
When they weren’t performing, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr took refuge with fans in the presidential suite of the Hilton Hotel, where one afternoon they painted a work of art together It is known as images of a woman.
That photo, which the specialists believe It is the only work of art created jointly by the four Beatles (or at least signed by all four), will go on sale at Christie’s auction house in New York on February 1st.
It is estimated that images of a woman It will end up selling for between $400,000 and $600,000as it “crystallizes a magical moment in the Beatles’ history,” said Christie’s expert Casey Rogers.
“It’s a rarity to have a work on paper outside of their musical catalog that is (a) physical relic, this tangible object with contributions from all four Beatles,” he said of the approximately 50 x 75 cm painting.
The history of the work
The Beatles spent a total of 100 hours in Japan during their 1966 tour. In addition to performing live, the group spent virtually all of their free time in their hotel room at the behest of local authorities who were concerned for their safety.
It turns out the band’s visit attracted both fans and protesters: there were reports of threats from Japanese nationalists, some very angry because a Western rock band was playing in a stadium considered a spiritual home for martial arts. Only John and Paul escaped for a few hours with their staff members to do some sightseeing.
In the midst of so much confinement, a visitor gave them some art supplies and the four musicians immediately sat around a table, with a huge white sheet of Japanese art paper in the center and a lamp above. Each Beatle would sit in a corner and paint something different. The songs on the album that would become Mixed they were playing in the background.
Every corner of the painting reflects a personal touch, with a lot of variety in shapes, colors and even paints used. Harrison’s part, which uses darker, angrier-looking brushstrokes, appears to extend further from his corner, while Starr’s area is smaller and more cartoonish.
Both Lennon and McCartney worked primarily in acrylic, while Harrison and Starr relied more on watercolor. Then, in the center, where the lamp once was, they placed their signatures.
“Perhaps it was a release during that confinement,” those at Christie’s noted. “Just a great creative outlet for them.”
Official photographer Robert Whitaker was on hand to capture the group at work. “I have never seen them calmer or happier than at this moment,” he observed.
The Beatles were no strangers to visual art. Lennon went to art school and so did McCartney. Both George Harrison and Ringo Starr drew “often and with great talent,” adds the Christie’s press release.
The Beatles never gave their painting an official title, but it became known as images of a woman in the late 1980s, when “a Japanese journalist thought he could see female genitalia on Paul’s dial,” according to Christie’s.
On sale
After its completion, the painting was purchased by Tetsusaburo Shimoyama, who was president of the Tokyo Beatles fan club. In 1989 it was purchased by record store owner Takao Nishino, who put it up for auction in 2012.
According to Nishino: “At first I thought it would be better to preserve it as part of Japan’s cultural heritage; he has never left Japanese soil in 46 years. But the Beatles phenomenon was and remains global.”
images of a woman will be part of Christie’s “Exceptional Sale”, an annual auction held in New York, London and Paris.
Source: Clarin