Stuart Sutcliffe
John’s good friend and artist Stuart Sutcliffe, was a member of the Beatles for a relatively short time, playing bass guitar until he quit the band to pursue his artistic career along with his German girlfriend Astrid. Unfortunately, Stu, who suffered from headaches for a considerable amount of time, died from a brain hemorrhage in Germany in 1962.
Another perspective of the sketch:
I, as time progressed quickly, discovered that I could not afford a Stu Sutcliffe oil painting in collecting circles as they command very high prices and are in high demand, but I was very fortunate to be able to acquire a Stu Sutcliffe sketch of a pair of his hands from the Fest For Beatles Fans. The seller had unfortunately taken one of Sutcliffe’s notebooks and sold the sketches individually to maximize the financial return. I am against that and believe the notebook should have remained intact. However, since the damage had already been done I decided to buy the sketch to give it a permanent and safe home.
Stuart Sutcliffe – the Poet
Most people think of Stu Sutcliffe’s artistic talents but he also dabbled in poetry. This is the cover of Stu’s 1955 poetry notebook.
Stu Sutcliffe’s 1955 poem entitled “Lament of Spring,” which I acquired from a dear friend in Texas. Sutcliffe signed his last name near the title of the poem
Stuart Sutcliffe Portfolio
A Stu Sutcliffe portfolio put together by his sister, Pauline. This was a large format limited edition portfolio containing reproductions of items associated with Stu’s short tenure with the Beatles. I was able to acquire one of these portfolios from Ebay.
Below the ad for the portfolio is the certificate signed by Stu’s sister as being copy #162 of a total of the 1,000 that were made. Stu’s sister passed away several years ago.
Buzz
You were so lucky to get a portfolio. I’d be interested to know which items were included in it. Were there reproductions of some of the pieces Stu did while in Hamburg–photographs, some of his collage work?
Susan, the amount of material for the portfolio was actually a disappointment to me. The cost of the item was mainly due to the large blue container. In my personal opinion, you would be better of with a book retrospective of his work at a more reasonable cost. Hope that helps! Even though I love all of Stu’s artwork, my favorite item of his in my personal collection is the poem, “Lament of Spring.”
Great to see Stu’s artwork and Poems. There was always something questionable about his sister, regarding her claims that John was responsible for his friend’s death. Whether she was doing this for financial gain is an open question.
Thanks for your comments Antonio! Would appreciate you passing the word about the blog to friends that may share your interest in Beatles/Print items. People that register and subscribe to the blog get notified each time a new item is posted here! Comments by people help serve as a motivating factor to make more posts! Thank you!