Linda McCartney captured her husband in Venice, 1976

The display has taken the former Beatle three years to put together and will mark 10 years since her death.

Sir Paul said the exhibition was "long overdue" and would show a "sensitive selection" of works demonstrating her career from the 1960s to 1998.

Some private images which have never been seen in public will figure in the display, opening on 24 April in London.

'Incredible talent'

Sir Paul, who is currently going through a bitter divorce with his second wife Heather Mills, added that Linda's photographic output had been "prodigious".

"The photographs not only illustrate her incredible talent as an artist, but as someone who was very much connected to the culture of the times and wasn't afraid to challenge herself or her subject," said the musician.

Linda McCartney's photographic career spanned four decades

Sir Paul worked with his daughter Mary, also a photographer, to put together the collection, which also includes family photographs and landscapes.

Limited editions of the photographs will be offered for sale at the James Hyman Gallery, which will be authenticated with Sir Paul's signature.

Linda McCartney, who married the rock star in 1969, began her career as a music photographer, capturing subjects including Art Garfunkel, Janis Joplin and Mick Jagger.

She met Sir Paul in America while taking pictures of the Beatles in 1967.