Your last chance to see Lennon’s Sgt Pepper sketch
JOHN LENNON sketch – that fetched a record $87,500 at auction in New York last night – will go on display tomorrow in Newbridge, Co. Kildare.
The ink drawing – believed to have been the inspiration for the cover of the iconic Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album – is likely to attract hundreds of Beatles and music fans to the Newbridge Museum of Style Icons.
It was sold yesterday to a private collector amid frenzied bidding at an auction of music memorabilia in the Hard Rock Cafe on Times Square.
But auctioneer Martin Nolan, of Julian’s Auctions in Los Angeles, says it will still be on display in Kildare for two weeks from tomorrow.
‘We had a pre-arrangement that this very valuable and interesting item would form part of an exhibition of 60s memorabilia, which will be opened on Monday [tomorrow] by the Sixties legend Donovan.
‘I will be bringing the sketch to Ireland myself. It’s likely to be the last time it will be on public display.
‘There has been a massive amount of interest in this drawing and it’s not surprising due to the iconic nature of the brilliant cover of the Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album.
‘We’ve had numerous requests from people to view it privately and it’s now one of the most expensive pieces of Beatles memorabilia ever sold.’
Mr Nolan, who is originally from Westmeath but has lived in the States since 1989, had expected the sketch to sell for around $40-$60,000. The drawing – which has been verified as authentic by handwriting experts – was found in a sketchbook at Lennon’s former home in Surrey, where he lived with his first wife Cynthia. Drawn in black ink on white paper, it features a bass drum emblazoned with the LP’s title.