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Color 28 x 20 giclée print of Paul McCartney at the piano inside the Roman Colosseum, photographed by Bill Bernstein on May 10, 2003, signed in the lower border in pencil by McCartney, "Paul McCartney," and by the photographer, "Bill Bernstein." Bernstein made the image during McCartney's Back in the World tour, at the invitation-only benefit concert McCartney performed inside the Colosseum—the first show staged within the ancient arena in centuries. Just 400 guests attended, each paying up to $1,500, with proceeds going to Rome's archaeological offices and the Adopt-a-Minefield charity; the following evening McCartney played a free concert for the city in the piazza outside. Entitled 'Magic Piano in the Colosseum,' the photograph captures McCartney at the Beatles' psychedelic Sgt. Pepper's–era piano, its bright panels glowing against the darkened tiers of the amphitheater at dusk.
The instrument itself carries its own Beatles history. McCartney's original 'Magic Piano'—a small Knight upright he kept in his London music room—was hand-painted in swirling psychedelic colors in late 1966 by the pop-art collective BEV (Douglas Binder, Dudley Edwards, and David Vaughan), the same trio whose painted cars had first caught his eye through his friend Tara Browne. He composed on it through the Sgt. Pepper's period, and its sunburst-and-lightning design became one of the enduring emblems of the era. Beginning with his return to the stage in 1989, McCartney toured with a recreation of that piano—a decorated case built around an electric keyboard—and it was this instrument he brought into the Colosseum in 2003, its bright panels the lone source of color in Bernstein's dusk-lit frame.
The image appears on page 137 of Bernstein's book Each One Believing: Onstage, Off Stage and Backstage (Chronicle Books, 2004), drawn from the on-stage, off-stage, and backstage access he was granted throughout the tour; a series of hand-signed Hahnemühle prints was subsequently produced and offered through the Morrison Hotel Gallery. These were sold only during the 'Each One Believing' exhibition's traveling run at a handful of galleries between 2006 and 2007 and were never issued as a numbered edition—the run is limited to the quantity that collectors purchased during those brief shows and authorized signatures were only available for sale during that time period. Each sheet was signed in pencil by both McCartney and Bernstein, and finished prints were delivered only after they had gone out for both signatures; per the consignor, this example was purchased on the gallery tour but not received until roughly a year later, a wait that speaks to how difficult these dual-signed prints were to obtain. Of the assignment, Bernstein reflected, in part: "The opportunity to photograph McCartney's entire World Tour and to be given such astounding access has been a high point of my career." In very fine condition. Accompanied by the publisher's certificate of authenticity.
https://www.paulmccartney.com/news/each-one-believing-the-tour
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