Image credits: Tom Hanley, John Lennon - the Thinker, photograph. ©Tom Hanley. Courtesy Proud Gallery.

Ballarat's John Lennon exclusive*

Never-before-seen photos of the late musician John Lennon will go on exhibition at the Art Gallery of Ballarat in February.

Ballarat is the only city in Australia to host John Lennon—Imagine! which comes from London's Proud Gallery and is a showcase of rare black-and-white images by world-class photographers such as Dixie Dean, Tom Hanley, Polly Moseley, Terry O'Neill, Michael Peto, Barry Plummer, David Redfern and Jurgen Vollmer.

The exhibition will also include paintings and sculptures from the 1960s and 70s that are part of the gallery's own collection by artists of the period. These include John Hopkins, Richard Larter and Robert Rooney as well as Alun Leach-Jones, who went to art school in Liverpool in the 1950s.

The exhibition coincides with the 28th anniversary of the former Beatles' assassination by Mark Chapman in New York City.

John Lennon—Imagine! opens on Saturday 21 February and runs through to Easter Monday 13 April.

*Based on media release issued by the Art Gallery of Ballarat.