John Lennon drawings to be unveiled for first time in 60 years at Beatles museum

A series of drawings made by John Lennon will be unveiled for the first time in 60 years at The Beatles Museum in Liverpool.

The rare pictures were rediscovered at auction by a collector in Tynemouth, Newcastle. 60 years on from Lennon drawing the artworks, they are set to appear in The Liverpool Beatles Museum, which will allow fans to see the images for the first time in over half a century. Joseph Robert O’Donnell, a Beatles collector and dealer based in Tynemouth, uncovered the drawings at a London auction house, where they had gone largely unnoticed. Recognising their historical importance, he acquired them for his collection before offering them for exhibition at The Liverpool Beatles Museum.

An invited audience of Beatles aficionados will be on hand to see the artworks for the first time in a public gallery today (June 4). The drawings, created by artist Stephen Verona and John Lennon, contained all of the lyrics to The Beatles’ song I Feel Fine with each word and drawing on its own piece of paper. The 240 total drawings were then made into a film and formed what is now largely considered the first music video before the term was ever coined.

Verona said in an interview afterwards: “I met John Lennon in London while directing a commercial.  We started doodling drawings on a table, and I suggested making a film from them. That became the Beatles’ first animated music video – I Feel Fine. It was two minutes long, made from 240 drawings.”

These events took place against a backdrop of extraordinary tension. The band’s 1966 American tour had become increasingly fraught following Lennon’s controversial remark that The Beatles were “more popular than Jesus,” which had sparked protests, record burnings, death threats and widespread hostility across the southern states.

Amid the pressure, Lennon had begun to explore visual art, experimental film and alternative forms of expression, making the Verona collaboration a rare and intimate creative outlet away from the glare of Beatlemania. The original film reel is now held in the permanent collection of the Library of Congress in Washington, DC.

In 2000, Stephen Verona consigned the complete set of 240 original animation drawings to Christie’s in New York, where they sold for $58,750 before being separated and dispersed across the globe.

The Liverpool Beatles Museum houses one of the largest Beatles collections in the world, with over 1,000 previously unseen authentic items displayed across three floors. Set within a Grade II listed building in the heart of the world-famous Mathew Street, the museum offers a unique journey from the band’s early days in Liverpool and Hamburg through to their rise to global fame and pioneering studio years.

This extensive and deeply personal collection has been assembled by Roag Best over more than thirty years, shaped by his close family ties to the Beatles. Roag is the son of Neil Aspinall, the band’s road manager, confidant and later head of Apple Corps and half-brother of The Beatles original drummer Pete Best.