Paul's self portrait will be draw at auction
JNash33040
Beatle Paul's self portrait will be draw at auction
A RARE self-portrait of Paul McCartney is the centrepiece of an auction at
Liverpool's Outhwaite and Litherland today.
For as little as £300 one lucky bidder will be taking home a piece of pop
history.
The former Beatle is less well-known for his art than John Lennon, but a recent
exhibition in Germany featuring work by Paul has alerted fans to his artistic
abilities.
His late wife Linda was a noted photographer and daughter Stella's flair for
design has led to her securing a lucrative contract with French fashion house
Chloe.
The signed charcoal self-portrait, which is thought to date from the 1970s, is
being sold by an anonymous Liverpool collector.
Album
Also included in the sale are a signed Paul McCartney album, a signed copy of
the Beatles red album compilation, and a Wings album signed by Linda.
The auction is set to take place at Outhwaite and Litherland's Dale Street
headquarters at 10.30am tomorrow.
The event will be a taster for Beatles collectors before the massive LIPA
Beatles memorabilia auction timed to coincide with the end of the Beatles
convention on Monday.
Auctioneer Billy McMahon said: "Paul isn't as well known as John for his art.
In fact, he's better known for putting loads of doodles at the end of his
signature or drawing a funny face at the end of his name.
"With grandfather clocks or other antiques it's easier to say exactly how much
they will fetch but Beatles memorabilia is in fashion at the moment and some
items can reach much more than expected.
"I'm old enough to have seen the Beatles but I didn't bother to collect at the
time and now you can't get hold of any of the very collectible stuff.
"At our last auction with Beatles stuff in it one telephone bidder bought the
whole lot. "There are lots of quite serious local collectors who are interested
only in Beatles stuff but they can't compete with those bidders from London who
are acting for overseas collectors like the Japanese.
Mr McMahon added: "Lots of people bring in signed photos and things which turn
out to be duff. Many signatures were actually written by secretaries at the fan
club or by machine but people think they're genuine.
"They see how much signed photos are fetching and they bring us these "signed"
photos they have had since 1960s.
"They think they're genuine but we have to disappoint some of them.
Expert
"We have an expert who can tell us whether stuff is genuine at a glance.
"As far as we know, we've never sold anything that wasn't genuine and we would
know.
"At our next sale we hope to have a snare drum used and signed by Ringo which
will fetch quite a bit.
"The appeal of Beatles memorabilia is because of the uniqueness of the band.
"Some people compare them to the Rolling Stones but there isn't the same
interest in the Stones."
©Liverpool Daily Post & Echo 1998