JOHN BYRNE R.S.A. (SCOTTISH 1940-2023) §
THE BEATLES - C.1969
£27,700
Auction: 02 April 2025 from 10:00 BST
Description
Signed ‘Patrick’ lower left, oil on board
Dimensions
27cm x 32.5cm (10.5in x 12.75in)
Provenance
From The Collection of Father Tom Jamieson, Renfrew. Purchased directly from the artist and thence by descent to the present owners.
Footnote
In 1969 John Byrne, still under the guise of ‘Patrick’, created a painting of The Beatles for his December show at the Portal Gallery that year. This was a reference and reaction to the fact that Portal attracted a starry clientele, with some of the biggest names in British showbusiness of the day becoming frequent visitors. Among them were Julie Christie, Michael Caine, David Niven, David Bailey, The Beatles (particularly Ringo Starr who is thought to own ‘Patrick’ paintings), and Brian Epstein.
The painting was purchased by the art director and graphic designer Alan Aldridge, who went on to use it as the frontispiece to The Beatles Illustrated Lyrics, published in 1969. It was later used as the cover of The Beatles Ballads LP twelve years later.
Rumours suggest the original largescale work was lost by EMI records, so this work is a rare surviving early version. There is only one other known example, in a private collection in America. The image also became the subject of a lengthy legal battle for Byrne as he found it was being reproduced on t-shirts and posters without copyright.
In the image, Byrne represents each Beatle seated beside a sort of ‘spirit animal’, perhaps which he felt best approximated their nature. Yoko Ono is seen in the crystal ball held by Lennon.