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Happy 80th Birthday Stuart Sutcliffe - a gifted painter taken too soon
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuart_Sutcliffe
Astrid Kirchherr and Stuart Sutcliffe, c. 1960
Stuart Fergusson Victor Sutcliffe (23 June 1940 – 10 April 1962) was a Scottish painter and musician better known as the original bass guitarist of the English rock band the Beatles. Sutcliffe left the band to pursue his career as a painter, having previously attended the Liverpool College of Art. Sutcliffe and John Lennon are credited with inventing the name "Beetles", as they both liked Buddy Holly's band, the Crickets. The band used this name for a while until Lennon decided to change the name to "The Beatles", from the word beat. As a member of the group when it was a five-piece band, Sutcliffe is one of several people sometimes referred to as the "Fifth Beatle".
When he performed with the Beatles in Hamburg, he met photographer Astrid Kirchherr, to whom he was later engaged. After leaving the Beatles, he enrolled in the Hamburg College of Art, studying under future pop artist Eduardo Paolozzi, who later wrote a report stating that Sutcliffe was one of his best students. Sutcliffe earned other praise for his paintings, which mostly explored a style related to abstract expressionism.
While studying in Germany, Sutcliffe began suffering from intense headaches and experiencing acute light sensitivity. In February 1962, he collapsed in the middle of an art class after complaining of head pains. German doctors performed tests, but were unable to determine the exact cause of his headaches. After collapsing again on 10 April 1962, he was taken to the hospital, but died in the ambulance on the way there. The cause of death was later found to have been a brain haemorrhage – severe bleeding in the right ventricle of his brain.
<snip>
Art
Sutcliffe displayed artistic talent at an early age. Helen Anderson, a fellow student, remembered his early works as being very aggressive, with dark, moody colours, which was not the type of painting she expected from such a "quiet student". One of Sutcliffe's paintings was shown at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool as part of the John Moores exhibition, from November 1959 until January 1960. After the exhibition, Moores bought Sutcliffe's canvas for £65 (equivalent to £1,508 in 2019, which was then equal to 6–7 weeks' wages for an average working man. The picture Moores bought was called Summer Painting, and Sutcliffe attended a formal dinner to celebrate the exhibition with another art student, Susan Williams. Murray remembered that the painting was painted on a board, not a canvas, and had to be cut into two pieces (because of its size) and hinged. Murray added that only one of the pieces actually got to the exhibition (because they stopped off in a pub to celebrate), but sold nonetheless because Moores bought it for his son.
Sutcliffe had been turned down when he applied to study for an ATD (Art Teachers Diploma) course at the Liverpool Art College, but after meeting Kirchherr, he decided to leave the Beatles and attend the Hamburg College of Art in June 1961, under the tutelage of Paolozzi, who later wrote a report stating that Sutcliffe was one of his best students. He wrote: "Sutcliffe is very gifted and very intelligent. In the meantime he has become one of my best students."
Sutcliffe's few surviving works reveal influence from the British and European abstract artists contemporary with the Abstract Expressionist movement in the United States. His earlier figurative work is reminiscent of the kitchen sink school, particularly of John Bratby, though Sutcliffe was producing abstract work by the end of the 1950s, including The Summer Painting, purchased by Moores. Sutcliffe's works bear some comparison with those of John Hoyland and Nicolas de Staël, though they are more lyrical (Sutcliffe used the stage name "Stu de Staël" when he was playing with the Beatles on a Scottish tour in spring 1960). His later works are typically untitled, constructed from heavily impastoed slabs of pigment in the manner of de Staël, whom he learned about from Surrey born, art college instructor, Nicky Horsfield, and overlaid with scratched or squeezed linear elements creating enclosed spaces. Hamburg Painting no. 2 was purchased by Liverpool's Walker Art Gallery and is one of a series entitled Hamburg in which the surface and colour changes produced atmospheric energy. European artists (including Paolozzi) were also influencing Sutcliffe at the time. The Walker Art Gallery has other works by Sutcliffe, which are Self-portrait (in charcoal) and The Crucifixion. Lennon later hung a pair of Sutcliffe's paintings in his house (Kenwood) in Weybridge, and McCartney had a Paolozzi sculpture in his Cavendish Avenue home.
Death
While in Germany, Sutcliffe began experiencing severe headaches and acute sensitivity to light. According to Kirchherr, some of the headaches left him temporarily blind. In February 1962, Sutcliffe collapsed during an art class in Hamburg. Kirchherr's mother had German doctors examine him, but they were unable to diagnose the exact cause of the headaches. They suggested he go back to Britain and have himself checked into a hospital with better facilities, but, there, Sutcliffe was told nothing was wrong, so he returned to Hamburg. He continued living with the Kirchherrs, but his condition soon worsened. After he collapsed again on 10 April 1962, Kirchherr took him to the hospital, riding with him in the ambulance, but he died before they arrived. The cause of death was cerebral haemorrhage, specifically a ruptured aneurysm resulting in cerebral paralysis, due to severe bleeding into the right ventricle of the brain. He was 21 years old.
On 13 April 1962, Kirchherr met the group at Hamburg Airport, telling them that Sutcliffe had died a few days earlier. Sutcliffe's mother flew to Hamburg with Beatles manager Brian Epstein and returned to Liverpool with her son's body. Sutcliffe's father did not hear of Stuart's death for three weeks, as he was sailing to South America, although the family arranged for a padre, a military chaplain, to give him the sad news as soon as the ship docked in Buenos Aires.[66] After Sutcliffe's death, Kirchherr wrote a letter to his mother, apologizing for being too ill to attend his funeral in Liverpool and saying how much she and Lennon missed him:
Oh, Mum, he (Lennon) is in a terrible mood now, he just can't believe that darling Stuart never comes back. [He's] just crying his eyes out ... John is marvellous to me, he says that he knows Stuart so much and he loves him so much that he can understand me.
The cause of Sutcliffe's aneurysm is unknown, although it may have been started by an earlier head injury, as he was either kicked in the head, or thrown, head first, against a brick wall during an attack outside Lathom Hall, after a performance in January 1961.[68] According to former manager Allan Williams, Lennon and Best went to Sutcliffe's aid, fighting off his attackers before dragging him to safety. Sutcliffe sustained a fractured skull in the fight and Lennon's little finger was broken. Sutcliffe refused medical attention at the time and failed to keep an X-ray appointment at Sefton General Hospital.
Although Lennon did not attend or send flowers to Sutcliffe's funeral, his second wife, Yoko Ono, remembered that Lennon mentioned Sutcliffe's name very often, saying that he was "[My] alter ego ... a spirit in his world ... a guiding force".
</snip>
Astrid Kirchherr and Stuart Sutcliffe, c. 1960
Stuart Fergusson Victor Sutcliffe (23 June 1940 – 10 April 1962) was a Scottish painter and musician better known as the original bass guitarist of the English rock band the Beatles. Sutcliffe left the band to pursue his career as a painter, having previously attended the Liverpool College of Art. Sutcliffe and John Lennon are credited with inventing the name "Beetles", as they both liked Buddy Holly's band, the Crickets. The band used this name for a while until Lennon decided to change the name to "The Beatles", from the word beat. As a member of the group when it was a five-piece band, Sutcliffe is one of several people sometimes referred to as the "Fifth Beatle".
When he performed with the Beatles in Hamburg, he met photographer Astrid Kirchherr, to whom he was later engaged. After leaving the Beatles, he enrolled in the Hamburg College of Art, studying under future pop artist Eduardo Paolozzi, who later wrote a report stating that Sutcliffe was one of his best students. Sutcliffe earned other praise for his paintings, which mostly explored a style related to abstract expressionism.
While studying in Germany, Sutcliffe began suffering from intense headaches and experiencing acute light sensitivity. In February 1962, he collapsed in the middle of an art class after complaining of head pains. German doctors performed tests, but were unable to determine the exact cause of his headaches. After collapsing again on 10 April 1962, he was taken to the hospital, but died in the ambulance on the way there. The cause of death was later found to have been a brain haemorrhage – severe bleeding in the right ventricle of his brain.
<snip>
Art
Sutcliffe displayed artistic talent at an early age. Helen Anderson, a fellow student, remembered his early works as being very aggressive, with dark, moody colours, which was not the type of painting she expected from such a "quiet student". One of Sutcliffe's paintings was shown at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool as part of the John Moores exhibition, from November 1959 until January 1960. After the exhibition, Moores bought Sutcliffe's canvas for £65 (equivalent to £1,508 in 2019, which was then equal to 6–7 weeks' wages for an average working man. The picture Moores bought was called Summer Painting, and Sutcliffe attended a formal dinner to celebrate the exhibition with another art student, Susan Williams. Murray remembered that the painting was painted on a board, not a canvas, and had to be cut into two pieces (because of its size) and hinged. Murray added that only one of the pieces actually got to the exhibition (because they stopped off in a pub to celebrate), but sold nonetheless because Moores bought it for his son.
Sutcliffe had been turned down when he applied to study for an ATD (Art Teachers Diploma) course at the Liverpool Art College, but after meeting Kirchherr, he decided to leave the Beatles and attend the Hamburg College of Art in June 1961, under the tutelage of Paolozzi, who later wrote a report stating that Sutcliffe was one of his best students. He wrote: "Sutcliffe is very gifted and very intelligent. In the meantime he has become one of my best students."
Sutcliffe's few surviving works reveal influence from the British and European abstract artists contemporary with the Abstract Expressionist movement in the United States. His earlier figurative work is reminiscent of the kitchen sink school, particularly of John Bratby, though Sutcliffe was producing abstract work by the end of the 1950s, including The Summer Painting, purchased by Moores. Sutcliffe's works bear some comparison with those of John Hoyland and Nicolas de Staël, though they are more lyrical (Sutcliffe used the stage name "Stu de Staël" when he was playing with the Beatles on a Scottish tour in spring 1960). His later works are typically untitled, constructed from heavily impastoed slabs of pigment in the manner of de Staël, whom he learned about from Surrey born, art college instructor, Nicky Horsfield, and overlaid with scratched or squeezed linear elements creating enclosed spaces. Hamburg Painting no. 2 was purchased by Liverpool's Walker Art Gallery and is one of a series entitled Hamburg in which the surface and colour changes produced atmospheric energy. European artists (including Paolozzi) were also influencing Sutcliffe at the time. The Walker Art Gallery has other works by Sutcliffe, which are Self-portrait (in charcoal) and The Crucifixion. Lennon later hung a pair of Sutcliffe's paintings in his house (Kenwood) in Weybridge, and McCartney had a Paolozzi sculpture in his Cavendish Avenue home.
Death
While in Germany, Sutcliffe began experiencing severe headaches and acute sensitivity to light. According to Kirchherr, some of the headaches left him temporarily blind. In February 1962, Sutcliffe collapsed during an art class in Hamburg. Kirchherr's mother had German doctors examine him, but they were unable to diagnose the exact cause of the headaches. They suggested he go back to Britain and have himself checked into a hospital with better facilities, but, there, Sutcliffe was told nothing was wrong, so he returned to Hamburg. He continued living with the Kirchherrs, but his condition soon worsened. After he collapsed again on 10 April 1962, Kirchherr took him to the hospital, riding with him in the ambulance, but he died before they arrived. The cause of death was cerebral haemorrhage, specifically a ruptured aneurysm resulting in cerebral paralysis, due to severe bleeding into the right ventricle of the brain. He was 21 years old.
On 13 April 1962, Kirchherr met the group at Hamburg Airport, telling them that Sutcliffe had died a few days earlier. Sutcliffe's mother flew to Hamburg with Beatles manager Brian Epstein and returned to Liverpool with her son's body. Sutcliffe's father did not hear of Stuart's death for three weeks, as he was sailing to South America, although the family arranged for a padre, a military chaplain, to give him the sad news as soon as the ship docked in Buenos Aires.[66] After Sutcliffe's death, Kirchherr wrote a letter to his mother, apologizing for being too ill to attend his funeral in Liverpool and saying how much she and Lennon missed him:
Oh, Mum, he (Lennon) is in a terrible mood now, he just can't believe that darling Stuart never comes back. [He's] just crying his eyes out ... John is marvellous to me, he says that he knows Stuart so much and he loves him so much that he can understand me.
The cause of Sutcliffe's aneurysm is unknown, although it may have been started by an earlier head injury, as he was either kicked in the head, or thrown, head first, against a brick wall during an attack outside Lathom Hall, after a performance in January 1961.[68] According to former manager Allan Williams, Lennon and Best went to Sutcliffe's aid, fighting off his attackers before dragging him to safety. Sutcliffe sustained a fractured skull in the fight and Lennon's little finger was broken. Sutcliffe refused medical attention at the time and failed to keep an X-ray appointment at Sefton General Hospital.
Although Lennon did not attend or send flowers to Sutcliffe's funeral, his second wife, Yoko Ono, remembered that Lennon mentioned Sutcliffe's name very often, saying that he was "[My] alter ego ... a spirit in his world ... a guiding force".
</snip>
A sampling of his works:
Link to tweet
The Beatles Story ✔@beatlesstory
Stuart Sutcliffe was born #OnThisDay in 1940.
Stuart was a talented artist and the band's original bass guitarist but sadly died aged just 21. 🎨
He would have turned 80 today. Happy Birthday, Stuart! 🎵
6:14 AM - Jun 23, 2020
He would've been better known for his art in his own right, even if he wasn't associated with The Beatles.
Astrid Kirchherr passed away in May.
6 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
"Happy Birthday:, good sir - your effect on our Boys no doubt galvanized them into becoming who they were - and then they turned around and the same to us!!!
THANK YOU 
Astrid
