At 15 years old, Paul McCartney picked up his pen and filled a blank sheet of paper with faces. In profile or from the front, with cigarettes hanging from their mouths, with diving goggles or masks, with caps… faces of African ethnic groups. Years later, that worn leaf, torn at the bottom, was found inside his textbook. It was auctioned to the highest bidder. On March 1, 2013, a fan paid a whopping 4,500 euros for it.. Those first drawings were just the beginning of a passion hidden for many years, a “pleasure” that the former Beatle began to develop at age 40. Before, he had to overcome your inhibitions and complexes.
It was always there and it ended up emerging. But For many years, Paul McCartney kept his other passion ‘hidden’: painting. “I felt that Only people with academic training were allowed to paint. It was one of my biggest blocks,” he said. He had never studied in a School of Fine Arts. It is something striking and ironic. He also did not receive any musical training.and that It did not stop him from becoming one of the most influential composers of all time..
Paul McCartney during the opening of his gallery in New York / James Devaney
That unknown side of Sir Paul has already become evident in his school years. Paul remembers that He was fascinated by the windows of stationery stores. Blank sheets of paper or pencil boxes filled your head of dreams. When she had eleven yearsused school prize money to buy his first modern art bookwhich included works of Dalí or Picasso. At 14 He was awarded for his drawing of St Aidan’s Church located in his neighbourhood.
Paul McCartney in 1948 / Keystone
At 15 years old, when he was studying at the Liverpool Men’s Institute, he grabbed his pen and dedicated himself to filling pages with simple drawings. In one of them, she outlined more than a dozen faces of all types and conditions. To him they were nothing more than useless scribbles…he never imagined that Those simple sketches were discovered years later inside his “1958 school textbook.” They were not accomplished strokes that could be advocated an illustrious artistic career. But Paul McCartney had made them. On March 1, 2013, the well-thumbed folio, with a small tear in the lower right corner, It was auctioned and received a barrage of bids. A fan paid a whopping 4,500 euros for the folio full of rudimentary ‘monigotes’.
John Lennon and Paul McCartney / Icon and Image
In the 1960s, McCartney became friends with art critics and gallery owners. AND he met people like Peter Blake and Richard Hamiltonwho were the creators of the legendary album covers the Beatles‘Sgt Pepper’ and ‘Abbey Road’, both based on ideas that Paul himself developed with them. It should be noted that the minimalist cover of ‘The Beatles’ (known colloquially as the White Album) was conceived by Paul together with Richard Hamilton.
Cover of the album ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’ / Michael Ochs Archives
At the same time, he began to buy and collect paintings by surrealist artists. He soon became attached with the works of René Magritte, who became a great influence on him. For example, a painting by the Belgian artist with a large green apple that Paul boughtwas the origin of the logo of The Beatles label – Apple Records. He also met Andy Warhol.
The Beatles’ vinyl of ‘Hey Jude’ / Blank Archives
Finally, In the 80s, he overcame his inhibitions and dared to pick up the brush and face a blank canvas.. As an old proverb says, ‘‘life begins at forty’. And at that age, He learned basic notions of painting. Fifteen years after, he had already painted more than 500 paintings. Surprisingly, In all those years, no one knew the singer’s passion… until 1999 when he decided to expose it publicly. presented his first painting exhibition in Siegen, Germany… a work strongly influenced by cubism, futurism and the abstract art of Willem de Kooning.
Paul McCartney in the gallery that exhibited his paintings in 1999 / picture alliance
Since then, Paul has discovered the “great pleasure” that picking up brushes gives him. His works are exhibited in galleries and museums around the world.. Hundreds of paintings that include portraits of Queen Elizabeth II, David Bowie and Elvis Presley. Although they are not for sale, modern art collectors You can purchase lithographs in limited editions signed by the authorwhich in art galleries are sold at “low” price about 9000 euros.
Paul McCartney’s painting titled ‘Elvis’ / Astrid Stawiarz
And he continues designing album covers. For example, that of his 17th solo album, ‘Egypt Station’ (2018) is based on a painting he created in 1988. According to the singer, his life goes beyond music and painting has been part of it for decades. He himself recognizes his limitations and He has never pretended to be a great artist. The painting it’s just a hobby that It gives you pleasure and release.
