Ravi Shankar; George Harrison
3 of 5 portraits by Clive Arrowsmith
© Clive Arrowsmith
Ravi Shankar; George Harrison
by Clive Arrowsmith
digital chromogenic print, 1974
17 1/2 in. x 17 3/8 in. (443 mm x 442 mm) image size
Given by Clive Arrowsmith, 2016
Photographs Collection
NPG x199702
Sittersback to top
- George Harrison (1943-2001), Musician; member of The Beatles. Sitter in 78 portraits.
- Ravi Shankar (1920-2012), Sitar player and composer; father of Norah Jones. Sitter in 3 portraits.
This portraitback to top
The Beatles guitarist George Harrison described the Indian sitar virtuoso Ravi Shankar as ‘the person who has influenced my life the most’. After meeting in 1966, Shankar became a mentor to Harrison, who in turn helped to popularise Shankar’s music with western audiences. This photograph was taken at Harrison’s home, Friar Park, where Shankar’s orchestra were recording and rehearsing prior to a performance at the Royal Albert Hall. Variant photographs from the shoot feature on the album covers of Ravi Shankar’s Music Festival from India (1976) and Collaborations (2010).
Placesback to top
- Place made: United Kingdom: England, Oxfordshire (Harrison's home, Henley-on-Thames)
Events of 1974back to top
Current affairs
28 people are killed and hundreds injured in the IRA pub bombings. Two pubs in Guilford popular with army personnel were attacked with gelignite bombs, followed by a pub in Woolwich and then two in Birmingham. 17 people, known as the Guilford Four, the Maguire Seven and the Birmingham Six, were arrested for the bombing but all were eventually found to have been wrongfully imprisoned.Art and science
John Le Carré publishes his classic spy thriller, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. The novel was later made into a BBC miniseries starring Alec Guinness.International
A one party communist state is established in Ethiopia after a committee of military officers known as the Derg depose Halie Selassie from power.Greek Cypriot officers depose President Archbishop Makarios III in a coup d'etat sponsored by the Greek Government. Taking advantage of the situation, Turkey sent troops to occupy half the island, proclaiming the Turkish Federal State of Cyprus the following year.
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