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12.
A b/w photograph by John ‘Hoppy’ Hopkins of Allen Ginsberg in his birthday suit on his 39th birthday, June 3, 1965.
Satin-matt finish. 25x17.3cm. Printed later (c. late 1990s).
The photograph pictures a naked Allen Ginsberg wearing underpants on his head, drunkenly raising a plastic cup of wine while celebrating his birthday during the early hours of the morning in a basement flat in Belgravia. It was a scene that greeted two Beatles at the very moment they arrived, John with Cynthia and George with Pattie Boyd, prompting Lennon’s famous remark to Miles as he was leaving: “You don’t do that in front of the birds!”.
Fine.