Richard Avedon: The Beatles

In August 1967, The Beatles and their band manager Brian Epstein enlisted the photographer [Richard Avedon](/artist/richard-avedon) to help visualize the psychedelic foundations of their groundbreaking eighth studio album *Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band*, which debuted a few months earlier. Through color manipulation, Avedon created hallucinatory, Day-Glo portraits of the Liverpool band brimming with symbolism of psychedelia, peace, and love—[John Lennon](/artist/john-lennon) gazes out through swirling glasses, Paul McCartney holds flowers, George Harrison is decorated with henna, and [Ringo Starr](/artist/ringo-starr) carries a dove. At the shoot, Avedon also captured serene, black-and-white portraits of the Fab Four in simple black shirts, which later became known as the “Mount Rushmore” images of the group. A year later, Avedon’s photographs—along with collectible posters—were released simultaneously in popular magazines across the world, including *Look* in the United States, *The Daily Express* in the United Kingdom, and *Stern Magazine* in Europe. Iconic images in both art and music history, Avedon’s portraits of The Beatles can be found in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York and The Victoria and Albert Museum in London, among other institutions worldwide.