Winter Auction 2015 closing February 7
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 2/8/2015
It was 48 years ago that Sgt. Pepper told the band to play and thus forever changed the landscape of music and pop culture worldwide. Behind the ultra-iconic album cover lay the equally famous inner-sleeve photo of the one-and-only Billy Shears and his mates in their psychedelic military regalia. Mop tops, mustaches, John's teashade glasses and flower epaulet, Paul's "O[fficially] P[ronounced] D[ead]" patch—the image rivals their Abbey Road shot as the greatest of all time. It has been reproduced for countless books, magazines, posters and websites, but never before has it been artistically transformed quite like this. At first glance, the depictions appear photographic, with every strand of hair, every facial contour and every uniform detail precisely true to reality. Only the pointillist background design and Adam Port's trademark flamboyant signature give away the truth that this stunning piece was created by hand. Of note, it is the first and only Beatles artwork of Port's career that has ever been publicly offered.
Bio: Heir-apparent to the great modern masters of photorealist portraiture, Adam Port reigns as one of the nation's premier sports and entertainment artists, with a clientele that has included influential entities like the NBA, Basketball Hall of Fame and Elvis Presley Enterprises, along with A-list stars like Michael Jordan, Carmelo Anthony and Ray Lewis. A graduate of Syracuse University’s School of Visual and Performing Arts, Port has perfected his trademark technique of using acrylic paint and colored pencil on illustration board to create breathtakingly life-like portraits.