The Beatles’ first short visit to the United States in February 1964 is hardly a lost moment of rock’n’roll history: Besides their two appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show, their sold-out shows in Washington and in New York signaled the arrival of Beatlemania Stateside. But you can get a rare perspective on that cultural phenomenon next month at the Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk, Virginia, where an exhibition of Paul McCartney’s own photos from that time will go on view.
“Paul McCartney Photographs 1963–64: Eyes of the Storm” opened earlier this year at London’s National Portrait Gallery to good reviews. It features 250 photos from the period when the band transcended its fame at home to become a worldwide sensation. McCartney captured scenes from inside the whirlwind on a Pentax SV camera: George Harrison poolside in Miami; John Lennon clowning in Paris; photographers chasing the band in New York.
So…how did this show end up in Tidewater, an area with slim—but not nonexistent!—connections to the early days of Beatlemania? “I will try not to be too deeply offended by that question,” says Erik Neil, the museum’s director, with what Washingtonian sincerely hopes is a laugh. (After all, the museum is named for the automobile-biz scion Walter P. Chrysler Jr., whom the New York Times once called “the most underrated American art collector of the past 50 years and more.”)
The reason is pretty simple, he says: The show got marketed to US museums “a little late” to make it onto many schedules, and the Chrysler had an unexpected opening when another show got delayed. “We just raised our hands and said, ‘Hey, this looks great for us,'” he says, adding that the show’s organizers also appreciated the fact that the Chrysler Museum is free to visit. Asked whether there are plans for McCartney to check out the show in Virginia, Neil says he’s not aware of any, “but hope springs eternal.”
Neil says he sees “fun and even affection” in the photos. McCartney wasn’t known as a photographer, but his “sensitivity to people” comes through in images that show the group members having fun, trying on hats, and basically being quite young people who’d rocked their way into a bonkers situation. (Harrison didn’t turn 21 until after the band returned to Britain that February.) “It strikes you how young they are,” he says, “and how innocent it feels. A lot of it is really low-tech. It’s guitars and a drum set and there they are in their suits. It’s kind of amazing knowing what would come afterward.”
“Paul McCartney Photographs 1963–64: Eyes of the Storm” will run December 5, 2023–April 7, 2024, at the Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk, Virginia. A members-only preview will take place December 5 and 6.
Exhibition curated by Paul McCartney with Sarah Brown on behalf of MPL Communications Limited and Rosie Broadley for the National Portrait Gallery, London, and presented by the Chrysler Museum of Art. This exhibition is supported by the Horace W. Goldsmith Special Exhibitions Endowment.
Andrew Beaujon joined Washingtonian in late 2014. He was previously with the Poynter Institute, TBD.com, and Washington City Paper. He lives in Del Ray.
