Eye of the Pool

After John and his family moved into Kenwood, renovations inside the house happened in 1964 (it wouldn't be completed until the following year - they lived in the attic for that time). John decided he wanted a pool for his new home, so, in 1965, construction started outside the house. Originally, John wanted a mirror on the bottom of the pool. I don't know where he got that idea but it does sound like a cool thing to do. But, unfortunately, it didn't happen. Instead, John settled on a psychedelic eye at the deep end of the pool - far cry from having a mirror!

John enlisted tile master Joseph Ritrovato to install the work of art after the pool was built (not yet filled with water). It's been said that John was the one who designed the Eye, and he could've done so. However, it took Joe approximately 17,000 little tiles to glue on the wall. I don't know how long the process took but he got the job done!

The psychedelic eye remained there after John and Cynthia divorced, and the house was sold. The eye saw many owners come and go until 1984 when the new Swedish owner, Bernard Cochrane, decided to remove it - but still own it. I suppose they learned that John was the one who installed the eye and wanted to preserve it as he died 4 years prior. The owners had the eye checked and figured it wouldn't last in the next couple of years of wear and tear (and chlorine water). It was already in quite bad condition and if they wanted to save it, at that moment was now. They gently disassemble the tiles and put it on a slab where it could be displayed for exhibitions around the world. It settled at The International Garden Festival at the Royal Festival Gardens in Liverpool from 1985 until 1987 when closed. It was then intended to go to Alder Hey Children's Hospital but it never happened. The mosaic eye remained at the Royal Festival Gardens site until 2005 when it was rediscovered by Wladek 'Butch' Reszczynski while clearing the area. Thinking it was abandoned, he brought it to his field where he restored it. It was soon returned to the owner and was fixed up again to go back to being a public display. Around this time period of rediscovery, Cynthia was came face to face with an eye she hadn't seen since 1968 and felt the hairs on the skin stand up - she confirmed it was the same eye she lived with at Kenwood. 

"A friend is very close to Cynthia Lennon who was living with John at Kenwood when the Eye was created. Next time she was visiting Merseyside Cynthia came to see the Eye. She said the hairs on the back of her neck stood up and confirmed that this was the Eye from Kenwood."

Wladek 'Butch' Reszczynski, 2002

It then went on display at The Beatles Story Museum in Liverpool in 2008, and was part of The Victoria & Albert Museum's You Say You Want a Revolution? Records and Rebels 1966-1970 in 2016 until 2017. The eye then traveled to Canada at its The Museum of Fine Arts in 2017 and then went to Italy at Fabricca del Vapore from 2017 until 2018. The eye returned to England to be at Sculpture at Kingham Lodge in 2023 until listed to be auction off later that year in November from Bonham's.