This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 9/23/2023
An exceptionally rare vintage color photographic print of the back cover of The Beatles 1969 album ‘Abbey Road’ that was used in the production of the album’s sleeve.
The photograph was taken by Iain Macmillan on 8th August 1969 during the photo shoot with The Beatles outside EMI studios. Incidentally the original Abbey Road street sign featured in this piece of artwork has now been replaced but the sign was originally situated on the corner of Abbey Road and Alexandra Road, London, NW 8. The junction no longer exists and was replaced by houses.
The artwork is printed on vintage Kodak Dye Transfer Paper.
This print has been professionally conserved, it comes with a detailed conservation report. The artwork also comes with an extremely detailed letter of provenance from the person that originally developed the print from the original negative and worked on it in the photo lab, the letter reads:
Background To The Abbey Road Artwork
”Prior to and during my university years I spent my summers working for the commercial photo processing laboratories Colourcel Ltd in Old Street, near Old Street tube station. In my third summer I went inside and learned how to process prints. When the print was signed off, an extra copy would be kept, in case of problems in the studio during retouching, and the modified dyes would be bottled, and used by the in-house artists to retouch the print using the same dyes as had been used for the print.
The Abbey Road print, as I recall, did not present any color problems, but a registration challenge. It required the main image, which had been altered during generation of the separations to have a blank area where the Beatles name would go. As can be seen from the artwork, letters or pairs of letters each represented a separate image to be printed. These were added as further sets of separations to write the name “Beatles” in the space that had been created. The missing letters were found by Iain Macmillan from other streets.
As can be seen from the artwork, there are gaps around the “Beatles”, and other marks that were later fixed by the in-house artists.
Particular points of note:
The girl in the picture is not a separate image
Letters are used from the Abbey Road letters. You can see shaded parts in common.
Ian [sic] Macmillan found a letter S with a crack. In the retouched artwork doesn’t quite line up.
I kept the artwork for many years in excellent condition, but over the years, the paper hardened. Damage occurred when my then teenage daughter tried to tidy my office at home. She rolled up the artwork, then placed other stuff on top, which cracked the artwork. I avoided further damage for a number of years.
Having seen Ashleigh Brown on a television documentary about paper conservation. I contacted her and commissioned a conservation of the artwork. The object was to stabilize and preserve. As it was my intention to sell the artwork, with none of my family wanting it, I was recommended to do no further work other than conservation”.
A full Conservation Report was provided by Ashleigh Brown.
Dimensions: The print measures 39cm x 39cm (15.25 inches x 15.25 inches). Some cracking to the front.
Condition: The condition is very good.
Authentication: Gotta Have Rock and Roll Certificate of Authenticity.