Monday, December 9, 2013

Villa

 There is an auction going on right now for what is described as photos of John Lennon at his Villa in Ibiz, Spain.   My first thought was, "since when did John ever have a Villa?"    Followed by "Where the heck is Ibiz?"    I had to look it up to see that it was in Spain.   Here is the story that is given with the photos:

 Dale’s dad Terry ran a chain of music shops with wife Joan and through his contacts arranged for his son to have a holiday in Ibiza where he tagged along with a group of photographers to a shoot. 

Ed said: “He went on a trip to Ibiza where John Lennon had a villa and they found out he was up for posing for the photographers.

“My uncle’s friend wasn’t a professional photographer but he went along with them and he was also allowed to take a few snaps. It wasn’t a massive deal.

“John Lennon was painting at the time which is a nice little link to the art auction.”
The official photographs taken that day made the papers but Dale’s were never published.

Ed said there were thought to be about 20 of the pictures taken but the negatives had been destroyed in a fire.

The pictures have been valued at between £500 and £800.

They'll go on sale at The Fine Art and Postcard Auction in Newcastle on Friday night.
Onine bids can be made beforehand at www.nclauction.com


Let's take a look at these photos


 Here is the version of the photos that is on the new outlets, slightly small and cropped.

And here are the photos much lager but with the auction's watermark over the photos.  


Do you think the surroundings around John look familiar?   Do you think they look like a villa in Spain?   I will tell what they look like to me:   John's home Kenwood.       I do not want to call anyone a liar and I would think the story is true, except for the fact that they did not take place in Ibiz.   Look at some other photos I have collected from this same day and compare:




There is no doubt that these photos were taken outside of the sunroom at Kenwood.   You can see into the sunroom in a few of the shots and see the items hanging on the walls, the shelves with the television, etc.    I would bet my Ringo boots that these were taken at the same time as the two from this new auction.   You see that birdcage type thing?   John is wearing the same clothes.  Yep...not some mystery villa in Spain but Kenwood.

Not that it doesn't make those two new photos less awesome.   Different photos of John Lennon from 1967?  Thank you. 

4 comments:

  1. good eye as usual, Sara. you're absolutely right. isn't this JL working on the art for that charity card?

    anyway, you should let them know of the error--it's okay to point out someone's mistake when there's the potential for others to put a whole lot of money into something not as represented. you'd not be calling anyone a liar, just offering clarification.

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  2. You are 100% right, Sara. It is Kenwood in the summer of '67. John didn't go to Spain at all that year and he certainly did not have a villa there. He was, of course, in Almeria the year before with How I Won The War. Maybe there is some confusion there?

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  3. dear sara, i checked with our friend from the kenwood blog and he said the same as you, that it is definitely kenwood. i loved seeing the photos all in one post. as you know, this is the year that i saw john many times a week, so any images from 1967 bring back lovely memories for me. thanks for posting! i wonder if we can leave a message in the auction. if they think these photos are worth that much, i could probably buy a small apartment if i were to sell mine! plus i have the original negatives...

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  4. Great detective work, Sherlock Schmidt!!!

    ("I'd bet my Ringo boots...." lol!)

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