Description:

Oversized Superb Beatles Photograph Hamburg in 1960

Before the Beatles were dubbed the "Fab Four", they were first a group of five. This stunning enormous 23.25" x 17.75" photograph depicts the Original Beatles Lineup at Hugo Haase Fun Fair, Hamburg Germany in 1960. Signed on the verso by the photographer, Astrid Kirchherr, including the original photo studio stamp. From left to right: Pete Best, George Harrison, John Lennon, Paul McCartney and Stuart Sutcliffe. Best was replaced by Ringo Starr in 1962. Minor evidence of matting residue on verso and orange line to front along outer edge border from prior matting, not affecting the superb appearance. A few very tiny nicks to the outer edges. The print came from the original negative struck later. Please note that a similar unsigned much smaller example sold for over $6500 in November of 2020.

Astrid Kirchherr, the noted photographer who captured the Beatles like no other, is sharing her magnificent photographic heritage with the world in a major auction in New York City that Guernsey’s will be conducting early this fall. Following is her story.

The year was 1960 and the Beatles (a club band starting to make a stir in dingy dance clubs in working class Liverpool), heard that - musically speaking - exciting things were happening in Hamburg, Germany. Packing their cases into a well beaten van and packing the van onto a steamer, the group sailed across the North Sea, eventually pulling into the Continent and then on to the Reeperbahn, occasionally referred to as Hamburg's "street of shame" for its mile-long mix of night clubs, strip joints, and (legalized) houses of prostitution.

Once landed, they (all five of them including Pete Best as the drummer and Stuart Sutcliffe - the "fifth" Beatle) were able to work their way into first the Indra Club and then the Kaiserkeller, with its larger stage where the headlining group was another Liverpudlian bunch called Rory Storm and the Hurricanes with a young Ringo Starr on drums. While at the Kaiserkeller, the band met a beautiful young woman, Astrid Kirchherr, who, fresh out of art school where she studied photography under Reinhart Wolf, was taken by the young Englishmen. And they by her. So much so in fact, that a romance quickly blossomed between Astrid and Sutcliffe. In a sense, Astrid became part of the group, eventually being credited with helping shape them into the Fab Four they became. But in those first days, she did what she knew best... she photographed them. Wearing boyish blond hair above form-fitting black leather, she was part of an emerging post-WWII hip German youth movement and the photography she produced showed it. Her work was stark and edgy half a century before edgy became "in". She shot them on back lots, she shot them in studios and she shot them on stage.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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September 29, 2021 10:30 AM EDT
Wilton, CT, US

University Archives

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Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
$0 $99 $10
$100 $299 $20
$300 $499 $25
$500 $999 $50
$1,000 $1,999 $100
$2,000 $2,999 $200
$3,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $19,999 $1,000
$20,000 $49,999 $2,500
$50,000 + $5,000