The McCartneys gathered to support Elton John and his husband David Furnish at the launch of their photography exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
It was a family affair as Sir Paul, 81, and daughters Stella, 52, and Mary, 54, gathered on Tuesday to take a look at the singer’s impressive collection at the private viewing and VIP dinner.
The exhibition, named Fragile Beauty, includes more than 300 pieces by 140 photographers selected from their vast library of photographs.
Elton, 77, put on an animated display as he posed for a photo with Sir Paul, Stella and Mary.
Having earlier worn a bright pink suit and jazzy shades, the Your Song hitmaker changed into a burgundy suit.
Sir Paul proudly posed with four portrait photos of The Beatles, with the photograph of him taken decades ago at the band’s height of fame.
Other stars taking a look at the exhibition included Nick Grimshaw, actor Russell Tovey and Simon Cowell’s ex Jackie St Clair.
Covering the period from 1950 to the present day, they include iconic fashion shots by Irving Penn, Richard Avedon and Herb Ritts, portraits of stars including The Beatles, Frank Sinatra Marilyn Monroe and Chet Baker.
There is also photojournalism capturing moments in history, from the Black civil rights movement of the 1960s to 1980s AIDS activism and the Sept. 11 attacks.
Newell Harbin, director of the couple´s collection, agreed that the sheer scale of the show is ‘a lot.’
‘It´s a little bit overwhelming sometimes, but it´s just wonderful,’ she said at the preview on Wednesday.
The exhibition is entitled Fragile Beauty, a name chosen by Elton that reflects his ethos, said curator Duncan Forbes, the museum´s head of photography.
The exhibition opens with elegant fashion photos from the 1950s, then gets into edgier territory with work by chroniclers of outcasts and rebels such as Robert Mapplethorpe and Nan Goldin, both artists John has collected extensively.
Many of the greats from seven decades of photography are represented, from Diane Arbus, Eve Arnold, Bruce Davidson and Robert Franck to Wolfgang Tillmans, Cindy Sherman and Ai Weiwei.
Elton began collecting photographs after getting sober in the 1990s – he later said he replaced alcohol with “a much healthier addiction.”
The singer and David, 61, have assembled one of the largest photo collections in private hands, amounting to more than 7,000 works.
They frequently loan photos for exhibitions, including some 200 for a Tate Modern show in 2016 that focused on black-and-white photographs from the early decades of the medium.
Fragile Beauty runs at the V&A from Saturday until January 5, 2025.
