SL: Was going to art college any benefit to John Lennon at all?
NICHOLAS HORSFIELD: Yes, the art school gave him a year or two to relax and find himself. He was never under any pressure to achieve art works – and I know that Cynthia Powell did some of his homework. He was there on sufferance, but that year or two did give him the opportunity to develop within himself. His notebooks were quite interesting and instinctive, but in the visual field, he would never have had the depth of expression that he had within music.
SL: Stuart went to Hamburg and developed yet another style.
NICHOLAS HORSFIELD: Yes, he was much influenced by Eduardo Paolozzi, who at the time was making rather schematic prints which appealed to Stuart. This gave him a certain release and a certain order and he achieved some very good results.
SL: Many of his pictures are untitled. Does that mean that he didn’t have anything in mind when he was painting them?
NICHOLAS HORSFIELD: No, lots of work are exhibited as untitled. They are not just doodles, they may have a certain figurative element behind them out of which has evolved the movement of paint and colour that gives the work its meaning and character.
SL: And would Stuart Sutcliffe have gone on to great things?
NICHOLAS HORSFIELD: It is impossible to say. Judging him at his time at the college, he was an outstanding student. He would have gone on find himself, to achieve his own style and, I would have thought, establish himself as a fine painter.