“Stuart Sutcliffe was a friend of John’s from art college. Stuart had sold a painting for £65. So what do you do with £65? We all reminded him over a coffee: ‘Funny you should have got that amount, Stuart – it is very near the cost of a Hofner bass.’ He said, ‘No, I can’t just spend all that.’ It was a fortune in those days, like an inheritance. He said he had to buy canvases or paint. We said, ‘Stu, see reason, love. A Hofner, a big ace group… fame!’ He gave in and bought this big Hofner bass that dwarfed him. The trouble was he couldn’t play well. This was a bit of a drawback, but it looked good, so it wasn’t too much of a problem.”
[Paul, Anthology]
Summer Painting, the oil on canvas painting which Stu sold for £65 after it was featured in the second Biennial John Moores Exhibition. The exhibition ran from 17th November 1959 - 17th January 1960, and on the closing day, 60 years ago, John Moores himself bought it. After some persuasion from John and Paul, Stu gave in and bought a Hofner President bass guitar.
Summer Painting © The Stuart Sutcliffe Estate.