John Lennon portrait by ex-Beatles bassist Stuart Sutcliffe up for auction

The watercolour painting of Lennon has been given a pre-sale estimate of £20,000

A portrait of John Lennon by his close friend and former bandmate Stuart Sutcliffe is to be sold at auction.

The pair met when they were both students at Liverpool College of Art and Sutcliffe was The Beatles' original bass guitarist, but he quit in July 1961 to focus on his art career.

The watercolour by Sutcliffe, who died in April 1962, is thought to be his only portrait of Lennon.

Chorley-based Tracks Auctions has given it a pre-sale estimate of £20,000.

The auction house said the work was painted by Sutcliffe in 1961 or 1962 at his studio in the attic of his girlfriend Astrid Kirchherr's family home in Hamburg.

A portrait of Kirchherr by Sutcliffe has also been included in the sale, with a similar auction estimate.

Kirchherr gave the two portraits, one of Lennon (left) and one of herself (right) away before her death in 2020

Beatles historian Mark Lewisohn said Sutcliffe and Lennon "inspired each other and they laughed, drank, painted and read together".

Sutcliffe played at The Beatles' residencies in Hamburg, where he met photographer Kirchherr, and the band were often guests at her family home.

Kirchherr went on to take some of the earliest pictures of the band, captured before they became global superstars and at a time when their line-up included both Sutcliffe and drummer Pete Best.

After leaving the group, Sutcliffe studied at the Hamburg College of Art, setting up a studio in the Kirchherrs' attic in December 1961.

He suffered a brain haemorrhage on 10 April 1962 and died, aged 21.

The auction house said the painting of Lennon was given by Kirchherr to her business manager Ulf Kruger before her death in 2020, while the portrait of the photographer, which combines wax crayon and watercolour, was given by her to a former housemate.

It said the works would be sold as part of a Beatles memorabilia auction on 18 June.