A visionary dandy who could turn the women in front of his camera into goddesses
The photographer of dreams, the King of Vogue, the visionary dandy capable of transforming the women in front of his camera into goddesses. A celebrated portraitist, but also a war photographer, illustrator, set and costume designer winner of three Oscars: Cecil Beaton (1904-1980) shines as few others in the firmament of the 20th century for his versatility and his gaze, which expressed a perfect fusion of aristocratic elegance, theatricality and modernity.
Born into a middle-class London family, the son of a merchant, Beaton was fascinated by the glamour of his mother and aunt. At eleven, he received his first camera and began experimenting with his sisters as models. At Cambridge, more attracted to aesthetics than academics, he mingled with the Bright Young Things, the dazzling and eccentric youth of the 1920s. Within this milieu, guided by his innate aesthetic sensibility, he began to define his unmistakable style, which soon opened the doors of high society.
He made his debut at 23 in Vogue and soon became one of the magazine’s leading contributors
At just twenty-three, in 1927, he debuted in Vogue, becoming one of the magazine’s main contributors with his splendid photographs - as well as drawings, caricatures, and witty observations on high society and contemporary manners. His images - elaborate, ironic, supremely elegant - revolutionized fashion photography. Beaton did not merely capture clothes and faces; he constructed worlds with mirrors, drapes, and flowers, transforming his models into timeless icons.
In New York, where he arrived in 1928, he quickly won over Condé Nast and secured a contract with Vogue America. His portraits became immensely famous. Sought after by Hollywood stars, he was the only photographer invited to the wedding of former King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson.
His images, elaborate, ironic and exquisitely elegant, revolutionized fashion photography
His career suffered a setback in 1938 after an antisemitic remark cost him his job. Yet Beaton knew how to reinvent himself: at Buckingham Palace, he created the official portraits of Queen Elizabeth and, during World War II, he documented London under bombardment as a photographer for the Ministry of Information. His images of soldiers and civilians, delicate yet powerful remain among the most moving in war photography.
At the same time, he also triumphed in cinema as a set and costume designer, winning three Oscars for Gigi and My Fair Lady. “No camera will ever be invented that can capture everything he truly sees”, wrote Truman Capote in 1968, the year of Beaton’s first major retrospective at the National Portrait Gallery.
Sought after by Hollywood stars, he was the only photographer invited to the wedding of former King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson
THE EXHIBITION
“Cecil Beaton’s Fashionable World” is the first exhibition entirely devoted to Beaton’s revolutionary contribution to fashion and portrait photography. The show celebrates Beaton at his most triumphant - from the Jazz Age and the Bright Young Things to the splendor of 1950s haute couture, culminating in his Oscar-winning success with My Fair Lady. Through the creative capitals of London, Paris, New York and Hollywood, his emblematic photographs captured the beauty, glamour and charisma of the most fascinating personalities of the interwar period, with elegance and mastery.
With over 200 works on display, including photographs, letters, portrait sketches, fashion illustrations and costumes, “Cecil Beaton’s Fashionable World” presents portraits of some of the most iconic figures of the 20th century: Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor and Marlon Brando; Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret; as well as Lucian Freud, Francis Bacon and Salvador Dalí.
