John Lennon's unseen art to go on show

By Roya Nikkhah, Arts Correspondent

The Art of John Lennon will feature prints of Lennon's original hand-drawn sketches, from the archive of his art work belonging to Yoko Ono, his widow, including three previously unseen drawings capturing his roles as political campaigner and family man.

Power to the People depicts a suited man standing on a plinth with a raised and clenched fist, wearing a spiked headdress, reminiscent of the Statue of Liberty.

The picture is thought to date from around 1972, when Lennon and Ono released Some Time in New York City, their fifth album together which included songs protesting about social and political issues of the day.

The album sleeve also contained with a postcard featuring a sketch by Lennon of the Statue of Liberty sporting a clenched fist in place of a flaming torch, and Power to the People is believed to be a later version of that drawing.

Another sketch entitled Dream Power depicts Lennon, wearing his trademark circular spectacles, sitting under a tree with his arm around a naked and reclining Ono.

A third picture, Family of Peace, is a "sumi-ink" portrait of Lennon, Ono and their young son, Sean, who was five years old when his father was shot dead by Mark Chapman outside his New York apartment in December 1980.

The sketch is thought to date from some time after 1977, when Lennon travelled to Japan to learn the intricate technique of sumi ink drawing.

Each picture is stamped with Lennon's seal featuring Japanese letters which translate: "Like a cloud, beautiful sound."

In a tribute to her late husband's passion for art, which will feature in the catalogue accompanying the exhibition, Ono said: "In his lifetime, John Lennon the artist remained "an outsider" to the art world, largely because of his fame as a "Beatle" and how he was viewed by the world as a result.

"John did his drawings with inspiration and speed, very much like how he created his songs. Most of the time, the drawings reflected his mood.

"Along with his guitar, pen and paper seemed to have served as ideal tools to express John's complex emotions."

While Lennon is best-known for his music, his accomplishments as an artist emerged before his musical talent.

From 1957 to 1960, he attended the Liverpool Art Institute, later abandoning a career as an artist to form The Beatles, although he continued to sketch until his death.

Jonathan Poole, the curator of the exhibition and a spokesman for Bag One Arts, Ono's art publishing company, said: "Very few people know what an accomplished artist John was – they just relate to him as a musician.

"But much of his art work shows what a fantastic sense of humour he had and also touchingly portrays his love for Yoko and Sean."

The three previously unseen drawings will be among 30 works to be sold as limited edition prints, ranging in price from £800 to £2,500, at the Art of John Lennon exhibition which opens at the Mandeville Hotel in London on February 26. Telegraph