By the time Stuart was 19 he was already considered one of the most promising and talented students at the Liverpool College of Art. Although in college, Stuart's artwork was more realistic, he later changed his style to abstract, and used bright reds and yellows in his paintings instead of the dim blues and greens.
Even When Stuart later joined the beatles as the bass guitarest, it was very obvious to all those around him that performing music was not his passion or intention.
When Stuart met John Lennon at college, they became fast friends, and knew they could rely on each other for anything. While Stuart influenced John to express his creative side, John urged Stuart to relax more and taught him how to relate with others.
Stuart and John had a remarkable friendship that many envied, but both John and Stuart cherished.
Even though Stu was spending most of his time with John and the band, he was still just as interested in art as he always had been. A while after helping John get the tape recorder, Stuart had entered some of his paintings for the John Moore Exhibition which was one of the best exhibitions around for it's type. John Moore whom was one of the most wealthy men in liverpool, really liked one of Stuarts paintings and bought it.
" We went to the walker Art Gallery and John took me up to this enormus painting. It seemed to be all khaki and yellow triangles. I looked at it and I said" What is it?" Well! John got hold of my arm and hustled m outside. I wasnt allowed to see another picture in the show. " How could you say a thing like that Mimi?" He gave his chest a big thump and bellowed " Art comes from in here!"
After Stuart had acquired the Bass guitar, John asked him to join his band.
Even though Stuart's Friend Bill Harry the author of " The ultimate beatles encyclopedia, and also fellow member of the Students Union Committee urged him not to join the band because of the fact that he would be spending less time on art and more on music, Stuart maintained his loyalty to John and joined the band.
Later, it was Stuarts quiet and intelligent personality that attracted Allan Williams, who ran the coffee bar called the Jacaranda, and offered Stuart the opportunity to paint a mural in his club which Stuart greatly accepted.
As Klaus sat down, while trying not to gain much attention since the crowd there was very rough, he sat next to the other resident group.
" I was staring at them because they looked so funny. They wore check jackets, black-andwhite check. They looked so funny. The most ridiculous-looking of all- Stu, as I discovered later- had his hair pilled back and high, long and pointed shoes and sunglasess. Not really sunglasses, just those sun things you clip over ordinary glassess"
After the band that was previously playing, which was Rory storm and the Hurricane, Klaus watched as the boys he was sitting next to climbed on stage.
" They went onstage and I realized that they wre the other group. They did " Sweet Little Sixteen" with John singing it. They knocked me out even more than Rory did. I couldn't take my eyes off of them. I wanted to speak to the, to get near them, but I didnt know how to. I was scared with all the rockers. I was embarrassed and felt out of it. but I stayed there all night,.i couldnt get over how they played, how they played together so well, so powerful and so funny. And all the time they were jumping around. I gathered they kept it up for 8 hours as well" -Klaus
" I just remember this bloke shoving a cover in my hand, I didnt know why" Says John. " i said ' Lovely', but made faces at the others behind his back and said ' Who's this Kraut'.
SInce John didnt speak German and never tried to, Klaus had to try and understand what John was saying. After Klaus showed john the record cover, he said that John had said something about Stu being the artist, and he'd better show the cover to him. As Klaus tried to approach Stu, someone else got in his way.
On the next night, Klaus persuaded Astrid, whom strongly didnt want to, to go along with him to the club, along with their other friend Jurgen Vollmer.
" I was frightened when I arrived" says Astrid. " But I soon forgot all that when i saw these five people. i can't explain how I felt. Something got me. I just couldnt beleive it. i had always been fascinated in a way by Teddy Boys. I'd liked the look of them in photographs and films. Suddenly there was five of them in front of me, with their hair all high and longsides. I just sat there open-mouthed and count move."
AS Klaus and Astrid began to tell all of their friends aobut the band at the Kaiserkeller, more and more of the arty types began to arrive which created a much more creative feeling in the area.After a little while, the Beatles began spending some of their spare time talking with Astrid and Klaus even though they had difficulties understanding eachother at first.
After Astrid became more familiar with them, she offerent to take their photograph, and they happily agreed.
" They were made up. I could tell, though John made a few funny remark. he was always saying terrible things about krauts in front of their faces. Not to me. But I felt he wasnt really like that anyway" said Astrid.
" I wanted to get to know Stu, that was he real reason. I'd fallen in love with him at first site. It's true. It wasnt slushy romance and all that. I just had"
( unbeleivably) attractive, He was also artistic, kind, and intelligent. The combination of those qualities are still to this day very hard to find in a man.
When Astrid met Stuart through her then boyfriend, Klaus, she fell instantly in love with him. Although Astrid and Stuart could hardly even communicate at first due to Stuart's lack of knowledge in the German language, the still had a connection that was unbreakable.As the Beatles and Stuart, whom was the "not so talented bass guitarist" became closer friends with Kalus and his girlfriend Astrid, Stuart and Astrid found themselves in a very difficult love triangle.
As hard as it was to keep their love apart, Stuart and Astrid waited untill the right time to pursue their relationship, and to their surprise, Klaus was nor angry or held a grudge against either of them.
As the love triangle between Klaus, Stuart and Astrid seemed to disapear, Astrid and Stuart were able to be together completly. Stuart eventually moved in to the Kirchherr home and spent the majority of his time there with Astrid while constructing even more of his amazing artwork.
Early on in their relationship, Stuart began haveing very violent headaches that would cause him to pass out frequently, including a few times in art college.
Although Stuart seeked treatment from the Kirchherr family physician, there was no appaerent cause of the migraines.
When Astrid and Stuart went to Liverpool on Christmas on 1961, it was very obvious to those around them that there was something seriously wrong with Stuart.
"Everyone said how ill (Stuart) looked"- Said Astrid
After Stuarts headaches began advancing to even more dangerous levels, he started spending much of his time resting in the attic of the Kirchherr home where he does his painting.
On April 10th 1962 Astrid received a frantic phone call from her mother stating that Stuart was having another one of his headaches and that she was unable to help him in anyway, and that she felt Stuart should be rushed to the hospital right away.
When Astrid arrived home she called the ambulance and waited with Stuart until they arrived, and then rode with him in the back of the ambulance.
At 4:30pm Stuart Sutcliffe was pronounced dead. The cause of death was given as Cerebral Paralysis due to bleeding in the right ventricle of his brain.
On April 12 1962, the beatles arrived back in Hamburg to begin their star club residency. When Astrid met John ( Lennon) at the airport, she had to fulfill the very difficult task of telling John that his best friend was dead.
John's first immediate reaction to the news was to laugh. Since John was not the one to show his emotions, and also since Stuart's death came as a complete shock, John was unable to show his real feelings.
Stuart Sutcliffe was buried at Huyton Parish Church Cemetery in Stanley Rd., Huyton, Liverpool, And an exhibition of his artwork was held at the Walker Art Gallery in 1964
To this day Astrid still lights a candle in memory of Stu, and so do so many others.
A talent like his should never be forgotten.
and to anyone who knew him, because he was a genius, with a great mind and an original talent as an artist. He would have been outstanding, if he'd lived."
