A prophetic original oil painting from the original fifth Beatle. Stuart Sutcliffe was one of the more tragic figures in Beatles history. Born June 23, 1940, he developed a notable talent in art by the time he was a teen. He attended the Liverpool College of Art where he met fellow student, John Lennon. Sutcliffe's tragic and sudden death at the age of 21 cut short the promising career of a talented, sensitive artist whom many believe would have been one of the preeminent British painters of the 1960's. His work is still critically acclaimed over 40 years after his death. His influence on The Beatles was immense as he not only gave the group its name, but also created their distinctive look (with help from his wife). On April 10, 1962 he died of a brain hemorrhage, allegedly the result of a bar fight following a Beatles gig some months earlier. This rare oil painting, depicting a bar room brawl, was done by Stuart Sutcliffe while he was still in art school. While several of Stu's pen and pencil sketches have been on the market over the years, this is one of the very few original Sutcliffe oil paintings ever offered for public sale. Stu had handwritten in the lower right-hand corner "Sutcliffe Group V". During Stu's art school years, he created detailed figural paintings like this one. Later, during his Hamburg years (late 1960 to early 1962), Stu's work became primarily abstract in nature, making this early painting particularly rare and desirable. It is accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity from Stuart's sister, Pauline, who provided it to the original purchaser of the piece. Framed to 17.5x24" and comes with an additional LOA from Frank Caiazzo, the world's leading authority on Beatles autographs.