John Lennon
John Lennon
John Lennon
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John Lennon
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Artist's Resale Right ("Droit de Suite"). Artist's… Read more
John Lennon

Details
John Lennon
A collection of original photographs and proofs, the photographs taken by John Lennon with a time-delay camera for the album cover for John Lennon and Yoko Ono's 1968 LP Unfinished Music No. 1, Two Virgins, comprising: A black and white photograph of Lennon and Ono, the photograph in its original form, before airbrushing of the background; A sepia photograph of Lennon and Ono, the photograph with window airbrushed from background; A sepia photograph of Lennon and Ono, the photograph showing an alternative, seated version of the image used on the album cover; Four black and white photographic proofs of the final cover artwork, two showing front view and two showing the back view, with variations to the background; A rare, early album cover pressing, the cover printed on the reverse view with the title and credits, with the addition of the credit Photographs by John Lennon; and a brown paper sleeve printed with a quote from Genesis, used to distribute the album; accompanied by a document concerning the provenance
Largest 19x16in. (48.2x40.6cm.)
Special notice
Artist's Resale Right ("Droit de Suite"). Artist's Resale Right Regulations 2006 apply to this lot, the buyer agrees to pay us an amount equal to the resale royalty provided for in those Regulations, and we undertake to the buyer to pay such amount to the artist's collection agent. These lots have been imported from outside the EU for sale using a Temporary Import regime. Import VAT is payable (at 5%) on the Hammer price. VAT is also payable (at 20%) on the buyer’s Premium on a VAT inclusive basis. When a buyer of such a lot has registered an EU address but wishes to export the lot or complete the import into another EU country, he must advise Christie's immediately after the auction.

Lot Essay

Two Virgins was the result of an all-night recording session by John Lennon and Yoko Ono at Lennon's home, Kenwood. It was released in November, 1968, shortly after Lennon's wife, Cynthia, filed for divorce. The album quickly became controversial after it was released with the now infamous nude photographs of Lennon and Ono.

The photographs were taken by Lennon with a time-delay camera at 34 Montagu Square, Ringo Starr's flat where Lennon and Ono were staying at the time. E.M.I. refused to distribute the album so it was distributed by Track in the U.K. and Tetragrammaton in the U.S., with the controversial image concealed in a brown paper bag. The credit was placed on the back view on the Tetragrammaton releases and on the front view on the Track releases.

Lennon claimed that the album's title came from the couple's feeling that they were two innocents, lost in a world gone mad and because after making the recording, the two consummated their relationship. Ono saw the cover as an artistic declaration: I was in the artistic community, where a painter did a thing about rolling a naked woman with blue paint on her body on a canvas...that was going on at the time. The only difference was that we were going to stand together, which I thought was very interesting...it was just standing straight. I liked that concept...

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