IN THE SPOTLIGHT
A trove from Pattie Boyd’s life up for sale
LONDON — Pattie Boyd was at the epicenter of the Swinging ’60s, but not always the center of attention.
The model and photographer, who was often in the shadow of her rock icon husbands George Harrison and Eric Clapton, comes into sharp focus through a trove of letters, photos and other items she is selling at Christie’s auction house.
The collection, which went on public display at Christie’s London headquarters on Friday, provides a glimpse into the heart of the 1960s and ’70s counterculture. The 111 lots up for sale include affectionate letters from both Harrison and Clapton, alongside clothing, jewelry, drawings and photographs — some of Boyd, and some by her.
If Boyd, 79, feels a pang at parting with them, she isn’t saying.
“I look back without emotion,” she told The Associated Press. “I can feel slightly sentimental, but not emotional.
Boyd is famous as a musicians’ muse, inspiration for The Beatles’ song “Something,” composed for her by Harrison, as well as for Clapton’s scorching “Layla” and sweet “Wonderful Tonight.”
The auction includes love letters from Clapton, written while Boyd was married to Harrison, and the original cover artwork for Derek and The Dominos’ 1970 album “Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs,” a painting of a blond model who reminded Clapton of Boyd. The painting is estimated to sell for between $51,000 and $76,000.
Harrison’s handwritten lyrics for the song “Mystical One” are on offer with an estimated price of $38,000 to $63,000.
Boyd is an accomplished photographer, and the sale includes both large-scale portraits and informal Polaroids of Harrison, Clapton and other musicians, including Mick Jagger, Pete Townshend and Ronnie Wood.
“This is very much a snapshot of her life,” said Christie’s head of sale Adrian Hume-sayer.
Harrison and Boyd divorced in 1977, and he died in 2001. In a 2007 memoir, Boyd described Harrison as her soulmate.
Her turbulent 10-year marriage to Clapton, which ended in 1989, was marred — as the musician later acknowledged — by his alcoholism.