00:00Four artworks by one of the founding members of the Beatles are now on display to the public for the first time.
00:06The pieces created by the band's original bass player, Stuart Sutcliffe, have been unveiled at the Liverpool Beatles Museum.
00:14Well, having the artwork here, you know, it's amazing for us because Stuart's artwork has been displayed,
00:21it's been exhibited, it's been in books, and people until this point have thought,
00:26well, we've seen Stuart's artwork, but no one's seen these four pieces because Herod Harrison, the owner,
00:34who was gifted them by Pauline, he didn't display them, he didn't exhibit them,
00:39he just put them up in his house and they've been in his house for forever.
00:43The artworks include a sketch of people on a bridge created when Sutcliffe was a student at the Liverpool College of Art
00:49and three abstract pieces from his time working and studying in Hamburg.
00:53The one that stands out to me, I mean, they're all beautiful pieces, but the reason I like this one
00:59is because it was actually done while Stuart was at the Liverpool Art College.
01:04And with regards to Stuart's artwork, that's pretty much as early as it can get.
01:10Sutcliffe joined the band after meeting John Lennon at art school in Liverpool
01:13and travelled to Hamburg, Germany, to perform with them.
01:17He left the group in 1961 to concentrate on his art career, but sadly died the following year, aged just 21.
01:25And of course, his connection to the Beatles starts because of the Liverpool Art College.
01:30One of his pieces of work gets put in the John Moores Art Competition, he wins the art competition,
01:36then John and Paul persuade him to spend the money on buying a bass guitar and becoming a Beatle,
01:41which takes him to Hamburg, which he then applies to get to the Art College in Hamburg,
01:46and then he's back to being an artist again. It went full circle.
01:50The items are the latest exhibits to go on display at the Matthew Street Museum,
01:55owned by Rogue Best, brother of original Beatles drummer Pete Best.
01:59I think Beatle fans will love it, but there's a whole other audience there.
02:05Art lovers, I think, will be very excited to see these four pieces.
02:11And Herod was saying earlier that because of his friendship with Pauline,
02:19she gave him one initially, then she gave him one as a birthday present,
02:22then she gave him another one as a Christmas present,
02:24and another one followed as a birthday present.
02:27And as he was saying this, I was thinking, all I ever got was cards.
02:32Cards from her.
02:33Four of his works have been loaned to the museum by Herod Harrison,
02:38a close friend of Sutcliffe's sister Pauline.
02:41He said it was Sutcliffe who died in 2019,
02:43gave him the pieces as presents over their 50 years of friendship,
02:47and he had them framed and kept them on his wall.
02:50Mr Harrison decided to put them on public display
02:53after a conversation and a party with someone who suggested he contact the museum.
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