Anthony Fawcett
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Anthony Paul Fawcett (born 1948) is a British writer,
art critic An art critic is a person who is specialized in analyzing, interpreting, and evaluating art. Their written critiques or reviews contribute to art criticism and they are published in newspapers, magazines, books, exhibition brochures, and catalogue ...
, and a former
personal assistant A personal assistant, also referred to as personal aide (PA) or personal secretary (PS), is a job title describing a person who assists a specific person with their daily business or personal task,. it is a sub-specialty of secretarial duties ...
to
John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...
and
Yoko Ono Yoko Ono ( ; ja, 小野 洋子, Ono Yōko, usually spelled in katakana ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking. Ono grew up i ...
from 1968 until 1970. He took over the role briefly held by Lennon's boyhood friend
Peter Shotton Peter Shotton (4 August 1941 – 24 March 2017) was an English businessman and former washboard player. He is known for his long friendship with John Lennon of The Beatles. He was a member of The Quarrymen, the precursor of the Beatles, and r ...
, after Shotton's resignation from
Apple Corps Apple Corps Limited (informally known as Apple) is a multi-armed multimedia corporation founded in London in January 1968 by the members of the Beatles to replace their earlier company (Beatles Ltd.) and to form a conglomerate. Its name (pro ...
, and Fawcett's role was later filled by
May Pang May Fung Yee Pang (born October 24, 1950) is an American former music executive. She worked for John Lennon and Yoko Ono as a personal assistant and production coordinator, and when Lennon and Ono separated in 1973, Pang and Lennon began a re ...
.


Biography

Anthony Fawcett entered the London art world shortly after attending
Abingdon School Abingdon School is a day and boarding independent school for boys in Abingdon-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England. The twentieth oldest independent British school, it celebrated its 750th anniversary in 2006. The school was described as "highly ...
which he attended from 1959 until 1966, when he became an assistant at the Robert Fraser Gallery. Fawcett later joined Lennon and Ono in the spring of 1968, as they made their first joint forays into
avant garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or 'vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical De ...
art during the first flush of their romance (including two acorns planted near
Coventry Cathedral The Cathedral Church of Saint Michael, commonly known as Coventry Cathedral, is the seat of the Bishop of Coventry and the Diocese of Coventry within the Church of England. The cathedral is located in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The curren ...
, and Lennon's ''You Are Here'', which consisted first of helium balloons with attached cards released into the English sky, then a room of charity collection boxes at the Robert Fraser Gallery surrounding the message "YOU ARE HERE" in Lennon's handwriting), Fawcett served as their personal assistant until their departure for
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
at the end of 1971. Fawcett witnessed firsthand many of the goings-on at Apple's
Savile Row Savile Row (pronounced ) is a street in Mayfair, central London. Known principally for its traditional bespoke tailoring for men, the street has had a varied history that has included accommodating the headquarters of the Royal Geographical ...
headquarters (also chronicled in ''
The Longest Cocktail Party ''The Longest Cocktail Party'' is a book by Richard DiLello, published in 1972 by Playboy Press in the US and Canada and Charisma in the UK, and reprinted in 1981, 1983 (Pierian Press) and 2005. ''The Longest Cocktail Party'' is one man's account ...
'' by Richard DiLello), and many of the business and interpersonal breakdowns that marked the end of the Beatles as a group. He later wrote a biography, ''John Lennon: One Day at a Time'', published by
Grove Press Grove Press is an United States of America, American Imprint (trade name), publishing imprint that was founded in 1947. Imprints include: Black Cat, Evergreen, Venus Library, and Zebra. Barney Rosset purchased the company in 1951 and turned it in ...
in 1976. A 1980 reissue (with updates) of this book inadvertently played a role in Lennon's murder, as
Mark David Chapman Mark David Chapman (born May 10, 1955) is an American man who murdered former Beatles member John Lennon in New York City on December 8, 1980. As Lennon walked into the archway of his apartment building at The Dakota, Chapman shot Lennon from a ...
bought and read a copy, discovering Lennon wasn't living in retirement at
Tittenhurst Park Tittenhurst Park is a Grade II listed early Georgian country house set in off London Road at Beggar's Bush near Ascot and over the parish border into Sunningdale, both in the English county of Berkshire. It was famously the home of musici ...
as Chapman had thought, and that Lennon had resumed his musical career in New York. Some years before this, after meeting musician
Howard Devoto Howard Devoto (born Howard Andrew Trafford, 15 March 1952) is a retired English singer and songwriter, who began his career as the frontman for punk rock band Buzzcocks, but then left to form Magazine, one of the first post-punk bands. After M ...
in New York and again in California in 1979, Fawcett decided to return to London at the beginning of the 1980s. He began to reintegrate into the London Arts scene, initially through befriending current musicians, artists and filmmakers. Fawcett picked up his professional relationship with art dealer Robert Fraser. Over the next few years (1982-6) Fawcett rapidly expanded his social circle to encompass several major artists. This period marked the beginning of Fawcett's construction of a new sort of powerful, yet discreet, liaising of business with the Arts. Even at the very beginning of the 1980s, he was one of a small number of well connected and discriminating individuals who were drawing together many of the elements that would later enable the transformation of London into a major player in the international art world through the 1990s and beyond. During this same period, Fawcett created Anthony Fawcett Associates with architectural writer and critic
Jane Withers Jane Withers (April 12, 1926 – August 7, 2021) was an American actress and children's radio show host. She became one of the most popular child stars in Hollywood in the 1930s and early 1940s, with her films ranking in the top ten list for ...
. Operating through this company he became involved in organising events for the
Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...
during the period when it was headed by
Roy Strong Sir Roy Colin Strong, (born 23 August 1935) is an English art historian, museum curator, writer, broadcaster and landscape designer. He has served as director of both the National Portrait Gallery and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. ...
. He notably played a role in organising London's lavish
Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the Art movement, visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore th ...
event, initiated by the Warhol Foundation to mark the artist's death in 1987. He extended his work to the
Serpentine Gallery The Serpentine Galleries are two contemporary art galleries in Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park, Central London. Recently rebranded to just Serpentine, the organisation is split across Serpentine South, previously known as the Serpentine Gallery, ...
while also participating in organising major events for the
Tate Gallery Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...
such as the opening of the new wing containing the Turner Gallery. Fawcett is mentioned in '' Shout!: The Beatles in Their Generation'', a 1981 book by journalist Philip Norman, and in Shotton's memoir ''The Beatles, Lennon and Me''. He may also be the "Anthony" heard mentioned in "Radio Play", a track on '' Unfinished Music No.2: Life with the Lions''.


See also

*
List of Old Abingdonians Old Abingdonians are former pupils of Abingdon School or, in some cases, Honorary Old Abingdonians who have been awarded the status based on service to the School. The Old Abingdonians also run the Old Abingdonian Club (OA club) which is an organ ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fawcett, Anthony British biographers Apple Corps Living people 21st-century biographers People educated at Abingdon School 1948 births