John Lennon’s Self-Portrait as Hitler on Sale for $54,000
A sketch drawn by John Lennon depicting himself as Adolf Hitler is being offered for sale at a price of $54,000, according to Page Six.
The drawing is thought to have been created in the late ‘50s when Lennon was attending art college, and it’s one of a series of images in which he merged elements of his own identity with those of the Nazi leader. It shows the future Beatle making a Nazi salute from a balcony while an unseen audience below shout “Hail John!” You can see the image here or in the tweet below.
The report says that specialist Gary Zimet of Moments in Time is handling the sale. “[Lennon] drew these when he was a college student, and the fact that he even thought of depicting himself as Hitler is weird,” he told Page Six. “Original Lennon drawings are very desirable and they are ultra rare.”
In the past six months, a number of Lennon-related items have been put on sale, including a trail bike, his former Surrey home and a pre-production copy of Beatles album Yesterday … and Today, which he’d customized in pen. In November, around 100 of his personal items including glasses, diaries and a cigarette case were returned to his widow Yoko Ono after having been stolen and put up for auction in Germany.
Moments in Time is also currently offering for sale the copy of Lennon’s Double Fantasy album that he signed for Mark Chapman five hours before Chapman shot him dead.
“The album, originally acquired by the gentleman who found it in the front gate flower planter outside the Dakota, home of the late John Lennon in 1980, was made famous when pictures of Lennon signing the album for Chapman appeared in the newspapers and on TV stations around the world," the catalog page explains. "The album bears the signature of John Lennon and is dated 1980. The cover and dust jacket contain forensically enhanced fingerprints of Chapman. ‘We are very excited to bring such a historically significant piece to the market.’ said Bob Zafian, spokesman for Moments in Time and agent for the seller. ‘I have never come across a piece with such provenance; police reports, fingerprint documentation, letters from the District Attorney, it goes on and on.’”