Gagosian London to Exhibit Photographs by Paul Taken During the Early Rise of Beatlemania

⁠28th August - 4th October 2025
⁠Gagosian London
17–19 Davies Street, London
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Gagosian is pleased to present Rearview Mirror: Liverpool–London–Paris, an exhibition of photographs by Paul opening on 28th August at the Davies Street gallery in London. The works chronicle Pauland his fellow Beatles as their reputation spread beyond Liverpool and Hamburg between December 1963 and early February 1964. Each picture was taken with Paul’s 35mm Pentax camera, acquired in late 1963 around the time that the term “Beatlemania” was coined to describe the unprecedented mass hysteria that followed the band’s every move.

Seen from Paul’s perspective as both protagonist and observer, his photographs—a mix of single frames and multi-image works—comprise a singular contribution to the visual record of the 1960s, a culturally and socially transformative decade. Shot with unassuming candor, the works at Davies Street offer an intimate account of the band as they toured across the UK and in Paris in the formative weeks before their debut visit to America. They show the in-between moments tied to key events in The Beatles’ trajectory: their autumn 1963 UK tour, their first as headliners; their appearance on the BBC’s Juke Box Jury, which garnered a record 23 million viewers; The Beatles Christmas Show, which greatly broadened their appeal; and their three-week residency at the Olympia Theatre in Paris, an early proving ground.

Remastered from original negatives and contact sheets thought to have been lost for over half a century, each of the works has been prominently signed by Paul, issued in a small edition, and framed in a bespoke profile of his design.

Rearview Mirror: Liverpool–London–Paris follows Paul’s debut presentation at the gallery earlier this year at Gagosian Beverly Hills, and coincides with the touring exhibition Paul McCartney Photographs 1963–64: Eyes of the Storm, which opened at the National Portrait Gallery in London in 2023 and which is currently on view at the de Young, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, through 5th October 2025.

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