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Lot Essay
Introduced to leading figures in Britain’s art and music scene by London art dealer Richard Frasier in 1964, Michael Cooper worked intimately with musicians, artists, and writers of the 1960s and 1970s, including the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, Eric Clapton, David Hockney and Allen Ginsberg. Particularly known for his photographs of prominent rock musicians during this time period, Cooper captured candid, intimate moments and produced official portraits and photographs that encapsulated the spirit of these figures in popular music and culture.
The concept for this iconic image, which graced the cover of the Beatles’ 1967 album of the same name, originated from an ink drawing by Paul McCartney. Photographed by Cooper in 1967, Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band depicts the Beatles in costume as an Edwardian-styled band surrounded by life-sized cardboard cut-outs of famous figures. Popular culture mainstays such as Marilyn Monroe and Bob Dylan are presented next to literary and political icons such as Edgar Allen Poe and Mahatma Gandhi, creating an image that is emblematic of popular and contemporary counterculture.
Prints of this image are extremely rare.
The concept for this iconic image, which graced the cover of the Beatles’ 1967 album of the same name, originated from an ink drawing by Paul McCartney. Photographed by Cooper in 1967, Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band depicts the Beatles in costume as an Edwardian-styled band surrounded by life-sized cardboard cut-outs of famous figures. Popular culture mainstays such as Marilyn Monroe and Bob Dylan are presented next to literary and political icons such as Edgar Allen Poe and Mahatma Gandhi, creating an image that is emblematic of popular and contemporary counterculture.
Prints of this image are extremely rare.