BEATLES MAGAZINE: PAINTING THAT SERVED AS AN ALBUM COVER FOR THE BEATLES WILL BE AUCTIONED

Thursday, 27 March 2025

PAINTING THAT SERVED AS AN ALBUM COVER FOR THE BEATLES WILL BE AUCTIONED

The artwork by Paisley artist John Byrne was bought by a Renfrew priest in the 1970s and is one of 10 pieces that will go under the hammer at auction next month.

Paintings created by late Paisley artist John Byrne – including a rare picture of The Beatles – are set to go under the hammer at auction.
One of the 10 artworks to go on sale will be a painting which was created in 1969 and represents each Beatle seated beside a “spirit animal” while Yoko Ono is seen in a crystal ball held by John Lennon.
It is among early Byrne works which he sold to his local parish priest, Father Tom Jamieson, in Renfrew in the 1970s.

The artwork was created as a study for a larger painting and is estimated to be valued at £10,000 to £15,000. The works will be sold by auction house Lyon & Turnbull live and online on Wednesday, April 2.
Byrne, who was born in Ferguslie Park, became friends with Father Jamieson when the artist and his family lived on Paisley Road, Renfrew, in the late 1960s and early 1970s – bonding over a shared love of music and culture.

The priest bought pieces from Byrne who worked from his studio garage in the back garden. Byrne’s daughter, Celie Byrne, also an artist, spoke of Father Jamieson and George Harrison visiting their house while she and her brother were small.

Charlotte Riordan, Lyon & Turnbull’s head of contemporary and post-war art, said: “This is an amazing collection of John Byrne’s work.
The Beatles painting was a precursor to a larger version, created for his 1969 December show at London’s Portal Gallery.

“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 12 years later."

“Rumours suggest the original large-scale work was lost by EMI records, and so this work being offered for sale by Lyon & Turnbull is a rare surviving early version.
There is only one other known example, in a private collection in America."

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