Gauntlet Gallery
What is Shepard Fairey’s piece called “Four Giant Beatles”?
Artist Statement
Screen Print 18 x 24 inches Edition of 100 A single print depicting all four images from The Beatles set. It had been reported that only 10-15 were released and all were marked AP. However, two signed prints numbered out of 100 have surfaced in addition to an unsigned and unnumbered copy. These images are based on John Kelley's photographs of The Beatles. Possibly also inspired by Avedon's Beatles posters.
Summary
Four Giant Beatles is a 1996 screen print published by Obey Giant, measuring 18 by 24 inches in a stated edition of 100. The print combines all four images from Fairey's Beatles set into a single composition, based on John Kelley's photographs of the band and possibly inspired by Avedon's Beatles posters. The source notes a complicated release history: it had been reported that only 10 to 15 were issued and marked AP, though two signed prints numbered out of 100 have since surfaced along with an unsigned, unnumbered copy. The work merges OBEY iconography with pop-culture portraiture in Fairey's mid-1990s graphic style.
Why It Matters
Four Giant Beatles is one of the more intriguing early Fairey prints because of its tangled release history, which the source documents carefully. The reported figure of only 10 to 15 AP-marked copies, set against the later appearance of signed prints numbered out of 100 plus an unsigned, unnumbered example, makes the true scarcity genuinely uncertain rather than simply small. That ambiguity is itself part of the appeal for collectors who value provenance puzzles and the detective work of early street-art editions. The print also sits at the intersection of OBEY iconography and pop-culture portraiture, drawing on John Kelley's Beatles photographs and possibly echoing Avedon's famous psychedelic Beatles posters, a lineage that connects Fairey's appropriation practice to canonical music imagery. Consolidating the full Beatles set into one composition makes it a kind of summary piece within that mid-1990s sub-series, attractive to anyone assembling the Beatles-themed Giant works. For the era it demonstrates Fairey applying his icon-making method to one of the most recognizable groups in pop culture, reinforcing the pattern seen in his Warhol and Andre pieces. The combination of small reported numbers, documented uncertainty, and a beloved subject gives it outsized collector interest relative to a plain edition.
Collector Perspective
This print appeals to collectors who enjoy provenance complexity and early-edition detective work, given the documented gap between the reported 10 to 15 AP copies and the later signed numbered examples. Music and Beatles enthusiasts are a natural audience, since it consolidates the entire Beatles set into one image rooted in John Kelley's photographs. The possible Avedon connection adds art-historical interest for buyers who collect across pop and music imagery. As a summary of the Giant Beatles sub-series, it anchors a focused mid-1990s grouping. On display it offers immediate recognizability through its subject while rewarding closer knowledge of its unusual release story and rarity questions.
Historical Context
Dated 1996, Four Giant Beatles belongs to the prolific mid-1990s stretch when Fairey was applying the Andre the Giant icon framework to famous pop-culture figures. It draws on John Kelley's Beatles photographs and possibly Avedon's Beatles posters, situating it within his appropriation-driven practice of that era. The print predates his later propaganda-style and political work, and its reported AP-only release followed by surfacing numbered copies reflects the loose, evolving documentation typical of his early editions. Within his arc it represents the music-and-celebrity branch of the mid-90s OBEY output, parallel to his Warhol homage, and shows him consolidating a sub-series into a single statement piece before his aesthetic and ambitions broadened later in the decade.
FAQ
What makes Four Giant Beatles unusual?
It combines all four images from Fairey's Beatles set into a single print. Its release history is also notable: it had been reported that only 10 to 15 were issued and marked AP, but two signed prints numbered out of 100 have since surfaced, along with an unsigned, unnumbered copy.
What is the source imagery?
According to the source, the images are based on John Kelley's photographs of The Beatles, and the print was possibly also inspired by Avedon's Beatles posters. This places it within Fairey's appropriation-driven practice of reworking recognizable pop-culture imagery.
How large is the edition?
The source lists an edition of 100, but notes conflicting reports: an initial release of perhaps 10 to 15 AP copies, with later-surfacing signed prints numbered out of 100 plus an unsigned, unnumbered example. The exact scarcity is therefore uncertain based on the source.
What are its dimensions and medium?
It is a screen print measuring 18 by 24 inches, dated 1996 and published by Obey Giant, placing it within the prolific mid-1990s period of Fairey's catalog.
Related Works
About the Artist
Shepard Fairey (b. 1970, Charleston, South Carolina) is an American street artist, graphic designer, and activist, and a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design. His 1989 “André the Giant Has a Posse” sticker grew into the global OBEY GIANT campaign — an ongoing experiment in propaganda, obedience, and visual culture. He reached worldwide recognition with the 2008 “Hope” portrait of Barack Obama, now held by the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery. Across screen prints, stencils, murals, and collage, Fairey channels propaganda aesthetics toward themes of peace, justice, environmentalism, and civil rights. His work is in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Victoria & Albert Museum, and LACMA.