The O-town Scene

Lennon in Andes This summer, Andes is a destination for Beatles memorabilia. A collection of 23 never-before-pub- lished images of John Lennon and Yoko Ono in their West Village apartment in New York City are dis- played at Andes Art & Antiques. 10 O-Town Scene July 21, 2011 Merna Popper owns the gallery, which is in a barn attached to the back of her house on Main Street in the Delaware County town. Popper’s life has revolved around art. She grew up surrounded by art in New York City, graduated from Sarah Lawrence College with a degree in art and has spent most of her life as an art collector and dealer. When the opportunity came to pur- chase the rights to the 23 negatives of Lennon and Ono, she was intrigued. “I had written a lot about photography and thought it would be a really interest- ing thing to put together” Popper said. The Lennon photographs were taken by photographer Louis Gaudiosi. Gau- diosi, who was on assignment for Rock Magazine at the time, took the photos of the couple one day in 1972; but somehow, they were never published. Now, for the first time in almost 40 years, they are on display at Popper’s gallery. The art gallery owner’s personal favorite is the picture showing Lennon on his bed, with his headphones on, in what appears to be a work session. Popper purchased the rights to develop and show the pho- tographs, and put together an exhibit called “John Lennon: The Way He Was – 1972.” The black-and- white photographs show a 32-year-old Lennon working at home and spending time with Ono. A few months ago, a couple came into the gallery in Andes and approached Popper with a set of 100 negatives of Lennon and Ono. The couple’s daughter is Gaudiosi’s partner in New York City. Popper contacted Gaudiosi, who no longer works as a photographer, and offered to buy the rights to show the pic- tures. It was costly, but Popper said she saw a “tremendous investment potential” in them. After purchasing the rights, she contacted photographer Annie Gohde, owner of Annie’s Community Darkroom in Schenevus, and technical assistant in the art department at Hartwick Col- Simona David lege. Gohde developed and printed the negatives. Geoffrey Rogers of Pine Hill framed them. The pictures have been on display since July 2. The opening weekend drew a big crowd — more than 500 people visited the exhibit in the first two days, including journalists from as far away as California. Two pictures have already been sold; the price of each photograph ranges from $750 to $3,800. The photographs will be on display through Sept. 1. The gallery, at 173 Main St. in Andes, is open Thursday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and by appointment. To make an appointment, call (845) 676-3420 or email PopperArtsy2@aol. com. For more information, visit www. andesartandantiques.com. _ Simona David

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