Beatlemania is back in full force as a very special exhibition is coming to the National Portrait Gallery in the United Kingdom. For a limited time from June until October, it will showcase never before seen and previously lost images of the world-famous band, as captured by Sir Paul McCartney.
Not only is this major exhibition, which will be opening in London on June 28, super exciting for diehard fans of The Beatles, it also marks the reopening of The National Portrait Gallery after what has been the largest and most extensive three-year redevelopment process in its history.
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The National Portrait Gallery is planning to reopen its doors on June 22, with a full program of major exhibitions including new works by David Hockney, along with pioneering works by leading Black artists and female photographers such as Francesca Woodman and Julia Margaret Cameron, as well as a newly named Taylor Wessing Photo Portrait Prize.
However, the Paul McCartney Photographs 1963-64: Eyes of the Storm is the exhibition that really has people excited. It focuses on portraits that The Beatles' bassist captured between December 1963 and February 1964, using his own 35mm camera.
Millions of eyes were suddenly upon us, creating a picture I will never forget for the rest of my life."
Paul McCartney
McCartney is said to have re-discovered nearly a thousand photographs in his archive that chronicle the very beginnings of the band's rise to fame, initially in the UK before spreading fast across the entire world.
To coincide with the exhibition, a hardcover book is to be published on June 13 titled 1964: Eyes of the Storm by Paul McCartney. The book will include 275 of McCartney's photographs shown in the exhibition, across 336 pages, as well as his own candid reflections on them and their significance.
The Beatles were touring during the time period of the never-before-seen collection, and are pictured across major cities including Liverpool, London, New York, Washington DC, Miami and Paris.
The National Portrait Gallery is also introducing a new ticket price in partnership with Bank of America to offer all visitors aged 30 and under, for whom tickets are just £5 (approximately $6 / AU$9) for its summer exhibitions (which also includes Yevonde: Life and Colour).
Standard tickets for the Paul McCartney exhibition will be priced at £22.00 - £24.50 (approximately $27 - $30 / AU$38 - AU$42) including entry to the gallery itself, although members and patrons of the National Portrait Gallery will be able to visit for free.
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