- The painting is going under the hammer at Christie’s New York on February 1
A large colourful painting created by all four members of The Beatles in a Japanese hotel room is coming on sale for $600,000.
The painting entitled ‘Images of a Woman’ is set to go under the hammer on February 1 at auctioneers Christie’s New York who say it is the only ‘major art piece’ signed by all members of the Fab Four.
John, Paul, George and Ringo were in the middle of their 1966 World Tour in which they were playing five shows in just three days at the famous Nippon Budokan arena.
When they were not performing, they were based in the presidential suite of the Tokyo Hilton.
The band members were being mobbed in public, so their security staff decided they should stay in the hotel when not performing.
The painting entitled ‘Images of a Woman’ is going under the hammer on February 1 at auctioneers Christie’s New York who say it is the only ‘major art piece’ signed by all four Beatles
John Lennon and Paul McCartney while away the hours between shows with a spot of painting at the Tokyo Hilton, during the Beatles’ Asian tour, on June 28 1966
There were reports of Japanese nationalists threatening the band members, including some irate about a Western rock band playing at a venue considered a spiritual home for martial arts.
To alleviate the boredom of staying indoors, a guest brought along a high-quality set of art materials, inspiring them to get to work.
They arranged four chairs around the table and each member worked from their corner towards the middle, with a lamp above it roughly centered.
Recordings for the soon-to-be-released Revolver album played in the background.
The finished 21ins by 31ins acrylic and watercolour artwork was a melange of patterns, circles and squiggles on Japanese art paper.
Each band member signed the section of the painting that they had created.
Photographer Robert Whitaker, who stayed with the Beatles, later recalled: ‘They’d stop [painting], go and do a concert, then it was, “let’s go back to the picture!”
‘I never saw them calmer or more contented than at this time.
‘They never discussed what they were painting. It evolved naturally.’
The members of Beatles pose for photographs upon arrival to the Tokyo International Airport on June 29, 1966 in Tokyo, Japan
The Beatles at a Tokyo press conference in June 1966. When they were not performing, they were based in the presidential suite of the Tokyo Hilton
This photo taken on June 30, 1966 shows British band The Beatles, (L to R) Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, George Harrison and John Lennon, performing during their concert at the Budokan in Tokyo
The band, who were in Japan from June 29 to July 3, 1966, gave the painting away to the official Beatles Fan Club in Japan.
Its original owner kept it for over 50 years, before it was sold at an auction in New York in 2012 to a private collector.
Casey Rogers, head of sale at Christie’s New York, said: ‘It’s a wonderful work of fine art, and a powerful piece of Beatles memorabilia.
‘This is the only major art piece we know of made and signed by all four Beatles, and it takes you right there to 1966, in Room 1005 of Tokyo’s Hilton Hotel, as John, Paul, George, and Ringo sat around a table and created this work together.’