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Lot Essay
The caricature drawn in Lennon's distinctive style is very similar to other artworks which adorned the walls of Hotel Suite 1742, during the week long Montreal Bed-In, each helping to promote to the world's media John and Yoko's message for Peace, a motif that was prevalent at both the Amsterdam and Montreal Bed-In's. Lennon is well known for his self-portraits, even from an early age as evident in the Daily Howl sketches from 1955. His self-portraits, which became more refined over the years to a simplified caricature line drawing incorporating his new wife Yoko, are easily recognisable and associated with John and Yoko, the couple, as Lennon would often sign off correspondence with this characteristic doodle.
The Montreal Bed-In was held two months after John and Yoko's honeymoon Bed-In at the Amsterdam Hilton, and was originally planned to be held in New York City. The newly married Lennons were, however, denied access to the States, due to John's earlier drug conviction in 1968, so opted instead to use Montreal, Canada, as a base due to its close proximity to the North American border. This Bed-In lasted for seven days, and throughout that time the couple sat up in bed in their nightclothes and opened their doors to the worlds' media, speaking to as many radio and TV journalists and political figures as they could. They also invited Yoko's, who later also became John's, good friends Norman and Helen Seaman along with their daughters Joy, Gay, Merry and son Robert to participate in the historic event.
The letter, from the Seaman family, accompanying the placard explains the excitement and anticipation they experienced on arriving at the Bed-In. Yoko invited Norman and his family having become friends with the New York concert producer and impresario, since he produced her first major solo performance work A Grapefruit in the World of Park at Carnegie Hall on 24 November 1961. Perhaps the invitation was also an opportunity for Yoko to introduce her good friend to her new husband. In an interview with Peter Duffy for the New York Press in June 1999, Norman Seaman said about the Bed-In It was the first time I met John, and we hit it off immediately. We both liked to talk and tell stories. We were always trying to top one another, always interrupting one another. John and Norman's friendship was cemented from this point onwards and the Seaman family were welcomed and trusted into the Lennons' close circle of friends. So much so that Norman Seaman helped to get John and Yoko approved by the Dakota apartment co-op board for residency in the prestigious building, as well as testifying as chief character witness at John's immigration hearing in 1976. Helen Seaman assisted the Lennons by handling public relations for the Committee for Justice, formed to stop the governments attempts to deport John in the 1970s. She later became Sean Lennon's full time nanny. Norman remained close friends until John's assassination in 1980 and with Yoko until he passed away in Autumn 2009.
In the letter the siblings recall being at the Bed-In and the highly charged atmosphere they became part of. They were thrust into the full impact of the event on arriving hours before Give Peace A Chance was recorded, with a magnitude of celebrities, artists, press contacts and friends of the Lennon's crammed into the Hotel Suite to record, as Mark Lewisohn has described The Worlds most endurable peace anthem and slogan. The family became part of the live recording of the track and helped to initiate certain harmonies which John enthusiastically wanted the congregation to join in with. In a photograph by Gerry Deiter (illustration B) taken at the Bed-In it shows John in bed finishing the slogan Montreal 1969 along the bottom of the artwork being offered in this lot, with one of Norman's daughters sitting to the side of the image smiling at her animated father. In another image (illustration A) John and Yoko are shown presenting the large scale drawing of the double caricature with the inscription To Joy Merry and Gay, Love and Peace from John Lennon, Yoko Ono, to Norman Seaman for his three daughters. This personalised and unique artwork has remained in the Family's possession for over forty years, since the historic event.
The Montreal Bed-In was held two months after John and Yoko's honeymoon Bed-In at the Amsterdam Hilton, and was originally planned to be held in New York City. The newly married Lennons were, however, denied access to the States, due to John's earlier drug conviction in 1968, so opted instead to use Montreal, Canada, as a base due to its close proximity to the North American border. This Bed-In lasted for seven days, and throughout that time the couple sat up in bed in their nightclothes and opened their doors to the worlds' media, speaking to as many radio and TV journalists and political figures as they could. They also invited Yoko's, who later also became John's, good friends Norman and Helen Seaman along with their daughters Joy, Gay, Merry and son Robert to participate in the historic event.
The letter, from the Seaman family, accompanying the placard explains the excitement and anticipation they experienced on arriving at the Bed-In. Yoko invited Norman and his family having become friends with the New York concert producer and impresario, since he produced her first major solo performance work A Grapefruit in the World of Park at Carnegie Hall on 24 November 1961. Perhaps the invitation was also an opportunity for Yoko to introduce her good friend to her new husband. In an interview with Peter Duffy for the New York Press in June 1999, Norman Seaman said about the Bed-In It was the first time I met John, and we hit it off immediately. We both liked to talk and tell stories. We were always trying to top one another, always interrupting one another. John and Norman's friendship was cemented from this point onwards and the Seaman family were welcomed and trusted into the Lennons' close circle of friends. So much so that Norman Seaman helped to get John and Yoko approved by the Dakota apartment co-op board for residency in the prestigious building, as well as testifying as chief character witness at John's immigration hearing in 1976. Helen Seaman assisted the Lennons by handling public relations for the Committee for Justice, formed to stop the governments attempts to deport John in the 1970s. She later became Sean Lennon's full time nanny. Norman remained close friends until John's assassination in 1980 and with Yoko until he passed away in Autumn 2009.
In the letter the siblings recall being at the Bed-In and the highly charged atmosphere they became part of. They were thrust into the full impact of the event on arriving hours before Give Peace A Chance was recorded, with a magnitude of celebrities, artists, press contacts and friends of the Lennon's crammed into the Hotel Suite to record, as Mark Lewisohn has described The Worlds most endurable peace anthem and slogan. The family became part of the live recording of the track and helped to initiate certain harmonies which John enthusiastically wanted the congregation to join in with. In a photograph by Gerry Deiter (illustration B) taken at the Bed-In it shows John in bed finishing the slogan Montreal 1969 along the bottom of the artwork being offered in this lot, with one of Norman's daughters sitting to the side of the image smiling at her animated father. In another image (illustration A) John and Yoko are shown presenting the large scale drawing of the double caricature with the inscription To Joy Merry and Gay, Love and Peace from John Lennon, Yoko Ono, to Norman Seaman for his three daughters. This personalised and unique artwork has remained in the Family's possession for over forty years, since the historic event.