Linda McCartney's Sixties: Portrait of an Era

Bruce Museum

Greenwich, CT

(203) 869-0376

Linda McCartney's Sixties: Portrait of an Era

March 13, 1999 ~ May 23, 1999

From March 13, 1999 through May 23, 1999 the Bruce Museum, 1 Museum Drive, in Greenwich, Connecticut presents the one-woman photography exhibition Linda McCartney's Sixties: Portrait of an Era, This is the initial stop of an exhibition that will travel nationally throughout 1999 and 2000, and it marks the first-ever U.S. tour of these photographs.

Linda McCartney (1941-1998) had a career as an internationally-renowned photographer that spanned twenty-five years. She was chosen as Rolling Stone magazine's first staff photographer, her work with musicians has appeared around the world, and the book Linda McCartney's Sixties - Portrait of an Era, from which this exhibition is drawn, was published by Little, Brown & Company in 1992.

Linda McCartney's Sixties: Portrait of an Era includes fifty color and black-and-white images of such rock legends as the Rolling Stones, The Who, the Young Rascals, B.B. King, Jimi Hendrix, Frank Zappa, Otis Redding, Janis Joplin, Arlo Guthrie, Bob Dylan and, of course, the Beatles.

Linda McCartney had a unique perspective on the world of '60s rock music. She got her big break photographing the Rolling Stones in 1966 and, after marrying Beatle Paul McCartney in 1969, had unique access to a virtual who's who of rock stars with whom she worked. These were intimate shots taken in natural light, which now appear to chronicle an era and its icons.

Inspired by such important masters as Dorothea Lange and Walker Evans, Linda McCartney has had her photographs exhibited in over fifty galleries worldwide. Her work has been published internationally in magazines and newspapers and included in such collections as the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, Britain's National Portrait Gallery, and the Reiss Museum in Mannheim, Germany.

Linda Eastman McCartney was born and raised in Scarsdale, New York. Her father was Lee Eastman, a prominent entertainment attorney. Linda attended Sarah Lawrence College and studied art history at the University of Arizona. While there she developed an interest in black-and-white films from Italy and France. Her photography skills were primarily self-taught, and she was inspired by historically important photographers such as Dorothea Lange and Walker Evans.

Linda McCartney's exclusive photographs of the Rolling Stones taken in 1966 aboard a yacht sailing Manhattan's Hudson River marked her breakthrough into the world of music and commercial photography. Combining her love of rock and roll with her talent for taking photographs, Linda began to specialize in capturing the character of the young British and West Coast rock bands as they visited New York City. In clubs and night spots she photographed emerging groups such as The Doors and The Who before their catapult into star status, and she was the first photographer to work for Rolling Stone magazine. A private commission included an assignment which took her to London in 1967 to photograph rock bands for a book on contemporary music. While in England, Linda met the Beatles' singer-songwriter and bassist, Paul McCartney, and two years later they were married.

Paul recorded his first solo album in 1970, and Linda's photographs were featured on the back and inside covers of the album. She also sang harmonies on the record and later learned to play keyboards, synthesizer and percussion. In 1971 Paul and Linda formed the highly successful pop-rock band Wings.

During Paul McCartney's New World Tour in 1993, Linda's photographs formed the stage backdrop in a massive 300' x 110' blow-up. In 1967 she was voted "U.S. Woman Photographer of the Year" by Women in Photography.

Linda McCartney's Sixties: Portrait of an Era is being organized by the Estate of Linda McCartney in cooperation with the Bruce Museum and is being curated by Nancy Hall-Duncan, the Bruce Museum's Curator of Art. The exhibition is on view in the Bruce Museum's Bantle Lecture Gallery.

(Note: On certain dates viewing hours of the exhibition may be limited due to public programs taking place in the Lecture Gallery. Call ahead for Gallery hours.)

From top to bottom: Paul McCartney, Linda McCartney; Linda McCartney (all photos following), Jimi Hendrix; Paul and Mary; Jimi Hendrix; Pete Townshend; Janis Jopin; The Beatles, London.. All photos © Estate of Linda McCartney, 1998

For further biographical information on selected artists cited in this article please see America's Distinguished Artists, a national registry of historic artists.

rev. 8/24/10

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