George Harrison at the Tokyo Hilton. Source – Reddit
When stuck in the presidential suite of a hotel in Tokyo, The Beatles collectively created and signed a painting. Now, it goes up for auction and could fetch $600,000.
If The Beatles could sell a white wall coated with signatures for $1 million, then the only painting created by all four Beatles would likely outperform. The successful band painted a artwork while on tour in Japan, and now it’s up for auction, potentially fetching up to $600,000.
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The 1966 painting by The Beatles, titled ‘Images of a Woman,’ will be auctioned on February 1st of next year at Christie’s in New York. This colorful abstract painting in acrylic and watercolor on paper, visually stunning, was created while the band was on tour in Japan.
In the midst of a tour that included five shows in three days at the well-known Japanese arena Nippon Budokan, they managed to create an artwork known as ‘Images of a Woman’ while staying in the presidential suite of the Tokyo Hilton, according to CNN. The Fab Four, appropriately named, certainly achieved a lot during the 100 hours they spent in the Land of the Rising Sun.
The estimated value of ‘Images of a Woman’ is between $400,000 and $600,000 and it “crystallizes a magical moment in Beatles history,” said Casey Rogers, a specialist at Christie’s, in a phone interview. “It’s rare to have a paper artwork outside of their musical catalog that is a physical relic, a tangible object with contributions from all four Beatles,” she commented on the 55 cm by 79 inches painting. “It’s memorabilia, it’s artwork, and it likely appeals to a much larger group of collectors… It’s a wonderful narrative.”
The musical legends were asked not to leave the hotel except for the show, for security reasons. Some angered Japanese nationalists were upset about the performance of a Western rock band in an arena considered a spiritual home for martial arts. Thanks to a visitor who provided them with art supplies, each Beatle sat in a corner and brought another artistic dimension to the table.
Photographer Robert Whitaker, who captured the group at work, shared, “I’ve never seen them calmer or happier than at this moment.” Beatles fans know that John Lennon attended an art school, and McCartney also studied the subject. George Harrison and Ringo Starr were also known to draw “frequently and very talentedly,” added the press release from Christie’s. Lennon and McCartney chose acrylic, while Harrison and Starr relied more on watercolor.
Their signatures are located where the lamp was, in the center of the sheet. The completed artwork was handed over to the Tokyo Beatles Fan Club, then acquired by their then-president Tetsusaburo Shimoyama. After Shimoyama’s death in 1989, the painting was auctioned to collector Takao Nishino, who kept it stored under the bed for over four decades, according to Artnet.
Source: LuxuryLaunches
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