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The Beatles Original Pastel-Oil Portraits by Volpe

Currency:USD Category:Memorabilia / Music Memorabilia Start Price:NA Estimated At:50,000.00 - 100,000.00 USD
The Beatles Original Pastel-Oil Portraits by Volpe
A rare opportunity is now at hand as we bring to auction the original paintings by renowned portrait artist Nicholas Volpe from which Capitol Records produced the very popular Beatles poster print sets in 1964. Volpe, most well-known as the official portrait artist to the Oscars, created powerful images of a host of Hollywood’s finest actors including Clark Gable, Katherine Hepburn, Bette Davis and Spencer Tracy in that capacity. He was accorded many prestigious commissions over the course of an illustrious career; among them, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, Winston Churchill, David Ben Gurion, Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra. As a result of winning a Grammy for the cover he designed for the 1959 album “Frank Sinatra Sings For Only The Lonely,” Volpe was commissioned by Hollywood’s Brown Derby to paint nearly 200 of the nation’s top recording artists for its Hall of Fame Record Room. Many sports figures were Volpe subjects as well, including Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale and other members of the Los Angeles Dodgers. His work on The Beatles portraits commenced during the group’s first U.S. visit in February 1964; a second session taking place during The Beatles summer 1964 tour. Capitol Records marketed the poster prints adapted from the paintings soon after. The set of four, 20 x 24” pastel-oil paintings, each featuring two images, comes with an autographed photo of Volpe with the original paintings and a letter of authenticity from the son of Nicholas Volpe. The superlative artist, also a noted poet, author and syndicated columnist, passed away in 1997.