Paul McCartney’s Unseen Beatles Photos Debut at Gagosian

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — Gagosian Gallery is set to unveil 36 never-before-seen photographs taken by Paul McCartney, providing a rare glimpse into the early days of the Beatles during their explosive rise to fame.

The exhibition, scheduled for April 25 to June 21, showcases snapshots captured between December 1963 and February 1964, a pivotal period that encapsulated the beginning of Beatlemania. These photographs feature candid moments of McCartney’s bandmates, scenic backgrounds from their tours, and are reflective of the vibrant culture surrounding the Beatles.

“There’s a sort of innocence about them,” McCartney reflected in a 2023 interview regarding his photographs. “They now bring back so many stories, a flood of special memories, which is one of the many reasons I love them all, and know that they will always fire my imagination.”

The exhibition includes images taken in various locations, including Liverpool, London, Paris, New York, Miami, and Washington, D.C. At this time, the Beatles had just released their chart-topping album, With the Beatles, and were embarking on their first UK tour.

Among notable photographs from this era are McCartney being chased by fans on New York’s West 58th Street, and a relaxing moment poolside in Miami. Each photograph serves as a vivid documentation of the pandemonium that greeted the band, embodying the cultural frenzy of the time.

McCartney’s talent behind the lens is evident, showcasing his skills with a 35mm Pentax camera. “Taking photographs, I’d be just looking for a shot. I’d aim the camera and just sort of see where I liked it, you know, ‘oh, that’s it.’ And invariably, you pretty much take one picture,” he explained. “We were moving fast. So, you just learned to take pictures quickly.”

Alongside the exhibition, signed prints from McCartney’s collection will be available for purchase, starting at $12,000, with a portion of the proceeds going to charity. This exhibition is part of a broader touring show of McCartney’s photographs that has traveled from the U.K. to the U.S. over the past two years.

The Beverly Hills event coincides with the ongoing exhibition “1964: Eyes of the Storm,” which opened in 2023 and has been displayed in multiple destinations worldwide, concluding its tour in San Francisco and Nashville later this year. An accompanying monograph featuring 275 of McCartney’s photographs, along with personal reflections, captures the essence of the band’s experiences during this formative period.

As McCartney noted, “To look at the love and the wonder of what we went through that’s captured in a lot of these photographs is the whole thing. It’s what makes life great.”

The Gagosian exhibition is located at 456 N Camden Dr, Beverly Hills, California.