As we all know, the British rock band The Beatles wrote many timeless classic songs, but coincidentally, the categories of works created by the four members are not just “music”. Recently, a painting created by The Beatles in 1966 reappeared at auction.
This untitled painting, often called “Images of a Woman,” is made of acrylic and watercolor and is the only painting in the world that was jointly signed by John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.
The four toured Tokyo, Japan, from June 29 to July 3, 1966. In addition to performances and sightseeing, the group members spent about 100 hours at the Tokyo Hilton Hotel because the authorities were worried that if the members took risks, If they go out, they will be mobbed. Therefore, everyone created the artwork during this period.
After the band members completed the work, they donated it to a charity auction, and it was eventually acquired by Tetsusaburo Shimoyama, the then president of The Beatles Japan Fan Club. In the 1980s, a Japanese journalist decided to call this untitled work “Images of a Woman” because the part Paul McCartney drew reminded him of female genitalia.
After Tetsusaburo Shimoyama’s death in 1989, the painting was auctioned to collector Takao Nishino, who kept the painting under his bed for more than forty years. In 2012, the work left Japan for the first time and was auctioned at the New York auction house Weiss. Recently, the painting reappeared at auction.
This painting will be auctioned at The Exceptional Sale on the auction platform Christie’s on February 1 next year, with an estimated selling price of US$400,000 to US$600,000. Interested readers may wish to pay more attention.
