Lot 54 – Stuart Sutcliffe Portrait of Astrid Kirchherr (Germany)

Description

A painting created by Stuart Sutcliffe consisting of a portrait of his girlfriend, Astrid Kirchherr. It is a mixed media painting of wax crayon and watercolour on paper and was created by Stuart in 1961 or 1962 at his studio in the attic of the Kirchherr family home at Eimsbüttelerstr. 45a, Hamburg. In his book ‘Beatles Guide Hamburg’ Ulf Krüger writes about the Kirchherr’s family home, ‘Astrid lived on the third floor until the beginning of the 70s. During their Hamburg gigs The Beatles were often guests at Astrid and her mother’s. They were not only served their beloved English breakfast with ham and eggs or steak and mashed potatoes here, but discovered new books and records. From December 1961 until his death on April 10th 1962 Stuart Sutcliffe lived in a room in the attic. Before that, Klaus Voorman had stayed here. Stuart also set up a studio in the attic where he could paint undisturbed. There, most of his magnificent paintings were created, often in the early morning hours, after coming home from the Top Ten, when he was still too wired to sleep. Astrid photographed John Lennon and George Harrison in Stu’s studio.’
The painting measures 41cm x 59cm (16.1 inches x 23.2 inches). There are tape stains to each corner along with some damage towards the top left corner. The condition is very good minus.
Provenance: the painting was given by Astrid Kirchherr to a friend she previously lived with and comes with a letter from Ulf confirming this.
RESERVE £10,000