Painted in Japan in 1966

Beatles painting sold at auction for 1.7 million dollars

At an auction in New York, the only known painting of the Beatles was sold for 1.74 million dollars.(Bild: Christie‘s)

The only known painting by the Beatles has been sold for 1.74 million dollars at an auction in New York. The work, which was christened "Images of a Woman" by a Japanese journalist in the 1980s, was created in 1966 when the band was practically barracked for days in a hotel room in Tokyo due to extreme security concerns.

In the run-up to the auction, Christie's auction house had hoped to raise between 400,000 and 600,000 US dollars (around 370,000 to 555,000 euros) for the psychedelic painting, which all four members of the "Fab Four" from Liverpool had worked on together. However, this was exceeded many times over at the auction on Thursday (local time) - the painting fetched the equivalent of 1.61 million euros.

"I've never seen them calmer and happier"
The Beatles had used a "moment of calm in a turbulent time" to create an abstract work of art with artist's utensils that fans had given them, reported photographer Robert Whitaker, who was on site and photographed the band painting. "I've never seen them calmer and more content than at this point."

Every corner of the painting reflects a personal touch, with a wide variety of shapes, colors and even the paints used. George Harrison's part, seems to spread the furthest out from his corner, while Ringo Starr's part is smaller and more cartoonish. Both John Lennon and Paul McCartney would have worked mainly with acrylics, while Harrison and Starr would have used mainly watercolors, Christie's said.

The Beatles never gave the abstract painting a title.(Bild: Christie‘s, Krone KREATIV)

Beatles never officially gave the painting a title
In the center of the painting is a circular white spot containing the Beatles' signatures. During the creation of the artwork, which the Beatles never gave a title, a floor lamp was placed in this spot to weigh down the paper. Because a Japanese journalist thought he recognized female genitalia in McCartney's part of the painting, he christened it "Images of a Woman", the auction house reported.

The painting was created during a Beatles concert tour to Japan, where they performed a total of five times within three days from June 30 to July 2, 1966 at the Nippon Budōkan, a martial arts hall in the Japanese capital Tokyo (the video below shows short excerpts from the performance on July 2, 1966). Although "Beatlemania" had already reached Japan, there were opponents who regarded the band from England as an "emblem of an invasive Western culture" and completely rejected them.

Band spent most of their time in a hotel for security reasons
For this reason, the Fab Four were sequestered during their tour in Japan for security reasons and spent most of the time before and after their performances practically only in the presidential suite at the Hilton Hotel in Tokyo. The paper and paints were provided by the Japanese promoter, who suggested that the finished painting be auctioned off for charity - which it was. It was then bought by the president of the local Beatles fan club.

In 2002, the painting then appeared on the auction website eBay and in September 2012 it was put up for sale again via Philip Weiss Auctions and sold for 155,250 US dollars.