Lot 2446: Signed Beatles Arriving in NY 1964 Photo

Scottish photographer Harry Benson accompanied the mop-topped Fab Four on their explosive first trip to the States. He was there on the plane from London to New York. He was there on the media-filled tarmac. He was there for the hotel pillow fights. He was there on the Ed Sullivan Show set for that earth-shattering televised performance of "I Want to Hold Your Hand." But of all his captivating Beatles photographs between 1964 and 1966, it is arguably this one, of the band hamming it up as they descend onto American soil for the very first time, that is most historically significant—and rightly so. Throngs of reporters and photojournalists line the barriers, police officers patrol the cordoned-off area (one officer seemingly smirking at these silly British mods), and fans in the distance angle for the best view. Meanwhile, John, Paul, George, and Ringo haven't even stepped off the staircase and already they're having a ball, mugging for their friend Harry Benson. Years later, the iconic image was featured in Life Books' 100 Photographs That Changed the World, even meriting the prominent top-center slot on the cover montage.

Presented here is a beatific behemoth of a print from Benson's original negative. The glistening, silver-gelatin photograph measures more than three feet across and two feet tall (26" x 40, to be exact), and it is strikingly framed to dimensions of 34-1/4" x 45-1/2". Benson's handwriting across the bottom margin offers the title, limited-edition number (out of 35 produced) and signature: "Beatles Arriving New York 1964 - 7/35 - Harry Benson." To our understanding, Benson retained for himself the first six photographs in the run, making this seventh example the very first to be made publicly available. Accompanying the mesmerizing display piece is an autographed copy of Benson's retrospective Once There Was a Way... (Abrams, 2003), in which Benson—who has photographed every sitting U.S. President as well as covered Bobby Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., the Berlin Wall, and Hurricane Katrina—described the circumstances of the photograph as follows: "Certainly the gray tarmac at Idlewild on the afternoon of February 7, 1964, looked to us like the greenest field in creation. I was behind the four Beatles when we disembarked and I had asked them to wave up at me for a picture. They almost forgot, but Ringo remembered and made them turn around. The crowds of screaming girls holding welcoming signs—some with the word Beatles misspelled—had been held back behind police barriers, so there was no hysteria on the ground. I didn't bother to develop the film. I threw it in a bag in my closet and found it again about fifteen years ago. I'm glad I did, as it was an historic day." Historic, indeed, for once the Beatles landed in America—as we see them here—the world was changed forever. Please Note: Due to the size and/or weight of this lot, the cost of shipping may be substantial.