Tom Murray’s Acclaimed Beatles Photo Collection, ‘The Mad Day: Summer Of ’68’ Returns To New York
These much- celebrated images would become the last publicity shoot of all four Beatles together.
New York City gallery Soho Contemporary Art is welcoming back The Beatles, The Mad Day: Summer Of ’68 Collection, by award-winning photographer Tom Murray. The much-acclaimed exhibition originally debuted in New York and Murray’s full collection is again on public display from today, Thursday, 31 May, with a private VIP reception to celebrate its 50th year. The exhibit will then be open to the public starting on 1 June and it runs through to 16 June.
The photographs in the much-acclaimed collection date from 28 July 1968. On that day, British photographer Murray captured numerous images of The Fab Four. The shoot was done on the run (literally) all over London in order to escape the hordes of screaming Beatles fans that followed them everywhere.
Rushing from location to location inspired the name of the famous collection: The Mad Day: Summer of ’68. These images would become the last publicity shoot of all four Beatles together- and represent the quintessential Beatles at the height of their psychedelic period and are considered the most important color photographs of the group. The Beatles officially disbanded in 1970.
“Tom is a great photographer and our Gallery is thrilled to welcome him back to the family”, said Irene and Rick Rounick, founders and owners of Soho Contemporary Art. The Gallery is located on the lower East Side of Manhattan at 259 Bowery.
Photograph by Tom Murray / Courtesy Soho Contemporary Art
The exhibit also includes a bronze sculpture rendering of Murray’s photograph ‘Coming Apart’ that captures McCartney almost falling off the roof of a building with the rest of the Fab Four hanging on, created by noted British sculptor Andrew Edwards.
The sculpture, which is a foot and a half in height, is just the first piece of a larger 8-foot piece that Edwards plans on creating. The bronze sculpture will make its public debut during the exhibit’s opening reception.
Edwards’ previously made bronze sculptures of The Beatles were unveiled on the docks in Liverpool in 2016 and are one of the most commonly photographed sculptures in the UK.
The Mad Day Collection has showed internationally in museums and galleries in cities such as New York City, Los Angeles, Paris, Sweden and London where the opening ceremony of a permanent collection at the Museum in Docklands was officiated by the Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, and Stockholm where the collection was presented in honor of the Queen of Sweden. The Museum of Radio and Television in Los Angeles also has a selection of the photographs in its permanent collection.
Photograph by Tom Murray / Courtesy Soho Contemporary Art
Tom Murray is an award-winning photographer whose work spans portraiture, theater, fashion, advertising, newspapers and magazines. He perfected his craft working for newspapers, becoming the head of photography for The Sunday Times Colour Magazine, London’s first Sunday magazine. He then worked alongside master photographers Helmut Newton and Lord Snowdon.
Tom Murray’s The Beatles Collection, The Mad Day: Summer of ’68 is now at Soho Contemporary Art from 31 May through 16 June.
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