Sir Cecil Walter Hardy Beaton (January 14, 1904 – January 18, 1980) was an English fashion and portrait photographer and a stage and costume designer for films and the theatre. January 14 is the 14th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1904 (MCMIV) was a leap year starting on a Friday (see link for calendar). ... January 18 is the 18th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: God Save the King/Queen Capital London (de facto) Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq mi  Population    - 2006 est. ... This is a list of notable photographers in the art, documentary and fashion traditions. ... ... Costume designer is a cinema term which refers to a person whose responsibilty is to design costumes for a movie or stage production. ... Film is a term that encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. ... Serge Sudeikins poster for the Bat Theatre (1922). ...

Biography

Born in Hampstead to a society family, Beaton was fascinated by the society magazines and the images within. Educated at Harrow, when he was aged 11 Beaton's grandmother bought him a Kodak 3A Camera, a popular model which was renowned for being an ideal piece of equipment to learn on. Beaton began to teach himself the basics of photography and would often get his sisters and mother to sit for him. When he was sufficiently proficient, he would send the photos off to London society magazines, often writing under a pen name and ‘recommending’ the work of Beaton^[1]. Hampstead is an area in the London Borough of Camden. ... Harrow School, normally just known as Harrow, is one of the worlds most famous schools. ... Eastman Kodak Company (NYSE: EK) is a large multinational public company producing photographic equipment. ...

Despite having little or no interest in academia, Beaton moved on to St John's College, Cambridge, and studied history, art and architecture. Beaton continued his photography, and through his university contacts managed to get a portrait sitting with the Duchess of Amalfi - actually George "Dadie" Rylands, and as Beaton recalled years later: "It was a slightly out-of-focus snapshot of him as Webster's Duchess of Malfi standing in the sub-aqueous light outside the men's lavatory of the ADC Theatre at Cambridge."^[2] The resulting images gave Beaton his first ever piece of published work when Vogue magazine bought and printed the photos^[3]. Full name The College of Saint John the Evangelist of the University of Cambridge Motto Souvent me Souvient I Often Remember Named after The Hospital of Saint John the Evangelist, Cambridge, named after John the Evangelist Previous names Incorporates part of what was Merton Hall which no longer exists Established... The University of Cambridge, located in Cambridge, England, is the second-oldest university in the English-speaking world, with a reputation as one of the worlds most prestigious universities. ... The Amalfi coast. ... George Humphrey Wolferstan Rylands CH CBE (23 October 1902–16 January 1999), known as Dadie Rylands, was an English literary scholar and theatre director. ... For other meanings, see vogue. ...

Beaton left Cambridge without a degree in 1925, but only coped with salaried employment in his father's timber business for eight days^[4]. 1925 (MCMXXV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Photography

Beaton designed book jackets and costumes for charity matinees, learning the professional craft of photography at the studio of Paul Tanqueray, until Vogue took him on regularly in 1927^[5]. He also set up his own studio, and one of his earliest clients and, later, best friends was Stephen Tennant; Beaton's photographs of Tennant and his circle are considered some of the best representations of the "Bright Young Things" of the twenties and thirties. Paul Tanqueray (14 January 1905 - September 1991) was an English photographer. ... 1927 (MCMXXVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... Stephen Tennant (21 April 1906 - 28 February 1987) was a British aristocrat known for his decadent lifestyle. ...

He was already taking photographs for the British edition of Vogue in 1931 when George Hoyningen-Huene, who was a photographer for the French Vogue traveled to England with his new friend Horst. Horst himself would begin to work for French Vogue in November of that year. The exchange and cross pollination of ideas between this collegial circle of artists across the Channel and the Atlantic gave rise to the look of style and sophistication for which the 1930s are known^[6]. 1931 (MCMXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link is to a full 1931 calendar). ... Baron George Hoyningen-Huene was a seminal fashion photographer of the 1920s and 1930s. ... Horst P. Horst, born Horst Paul Albert Bohrmann, (August 14, 1906 - November 18, 1999) was a photographer best known for his photographs of women and fashion taken while working for Vogue. ... Satellite view of the English Channel The English Channel (French: La Manche (IPA: ), the sleeve) is the part of the Atlantic Ocean that separates the island of Great Britain from northern France and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. ... Atlantic redirects here. ... The 1930s (years from 1930–1939) were described as an abrupt shift to more radical and conservative lifestyles, as countries were struggling to find a solution to the Great Depression, also known in Europe as the World Depression. ...

Beaton is best known for his fashion photographs and society portraits. He worked as a staff photographer for Vanity Fair and Vogue in addition to photographing celebrities in Hollywood. American actress Demi Moore, on a typical Vanity Fair cover (August, 1991) Vanity Fair is a glossy American glamour magazine monthly that offers a mixture of articles based on sensational exaggerations, jet-set and entertainment-business personalities, politics, and lies. ... For other meanings, see vogue. ... ...

Beaton's first camera was a Kodak 3A folding camera. Over the course of his career, he employed both large format cameras, and smaller Rolleiflex cameras. Beaton was never known as a highly skilled technical photographer, and instead focused on staging a compelling model or scene and looking for the perfect shutter-release moment. Large format describes photographic films, view cameras (including pinhole cameras) and processes that use a film or digital sensor the size of 4 x 5 inches or larger. ... Rolleiflex 2. ...

Beaton often photographed the Royal Family for official publication. Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother was his favourite Royal sitter, and he once pocketed her scented hankie as a keepsake from a highly successful shoot. Beaton took the famous wedding pictures of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor (wearing an ensemble by the noted fashion designer Mainbocher). Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (Elizabeth Angela Marguerite; 4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) was the Queen Consort of King George VI from 1936 until his death in 1952. ... Edward VIII (Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David Windsor; later The Prince Edward, Duke of Windsor; 23 June 1894 – 28 May 1972) was King of Great Britain, Ireland, the British Dominions beyond the Seas, and Emperor of India from the death of his father, George V (1910–36), on... The Duke and Duchess of Windsor on their wedding day. ... Mainbocher (1891-1976) (born Main Rousseau Bocher) was an American couturier who operated fashion houses in Paris and later New York from the 1930s through the 1960s. ...

During the Second World War, Beaton was initially posted to the Ministry of Information and given the task of recording images from the home front. During this assignment he captured one of the most enduring images of British suffering during the war, that of three-year-old Blitz victim Eileen Dunne recovering in hospital, clutching her beloved teddy bear. When the image was published, America had not yet officially joined the war - but splashed across the press in the USA, images such as Beaton’s helped push the American public to put pressure on their Government to help Britain in its hour of need^[7]. Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ... The Minister of Information is a British government position that was created briefly during the First World War and again during the Second World War. ... Look up Blitz in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Beaton had a major influence on and relationship with two other leading lights in British photography, that of Angus McBean and David Bailey. McBean was arguably the best portrait photographer of his era - in the second part of McBeans career (post war) his work is clearly heavily influenced by Beaton, though arguably McBean was technically far more proficient in his execution. Bailey was also enormously influenced by Beaton when they met whilst working for British Vogue in the early 60's, Bailey's stark use of square format (6x6) images bears clear connections to Beatons own working patterns. Angus McBean was born in Newport, Wales, United Kingdom in 1904 and died in 1990. ... David Bailey CBE (born January 2, 1938 in London) is a celebrated and famous English photographer. ...

Stage and film design

The cover of Cecil Beaton's Fair Lady Beaton's diary of working on the film

After the war, Beaton tackled the Broadway stage, designing sets, costumes, and lighting for a 1946 revival of Lady Windermere's Fan, in which he also acted. Image File history File links Bookcover-hepburn-by-beaton. ... Image File history File links Bookcover-hepburn-by-beaton. ... Broadway theatre is often considered the highest professional form of theatre in the United States. ... The word set, which is among the words with the most numerous definitions in the English language (at 464 definitions according to the Oxford English Dictionary), may have one of the following meanings. ... 1946 (MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... Oscar Wilde. ...

His most lauded achievement for the stage was the sets and costumes for Lerner and Loewe's My Fair Lady (1956), which led to two Lerner and Loewe film musicals, Gigi (1958) and My Fair Lady (1964), both of which earned Beaton the Academy Award for Costume Design. Lerner and Loewe is a designation for the musical comedy writing team of lyricist and librettist Alan Jay Lerner and composer Frederick Loewe. ... The original poster for the Broadway production of the show designed by Al Hirschfeld My Fair Lady is a 1956 musical theater production with lyrics and book by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. ... Year 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Gigi is a 1958 motion picture musical set in Paris, France. ... My Fair Lady is a 1964 film directed by George Cukor and starring Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison. ... This Academy Award was first given for movies made in 1948 when separate awards were given for black-and-white and color movies. ...

His last work for Broadway was sets and costumes for Coco (1969) starring Katharine Hepburn. Coco is a musical play based on the life of designer Coco Chanel, with music by André Previn, and book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner. ... For the Stargate SG-1 episode, see 1969 (Stargate SG-1). ... Katharine Houghton Hepburn (May 12, 1907 – June 29, 2003) was an iconic four-time Academy Award-winning American star of film, television and stage, widely recognized for her sharp wit, New England gentility and fierce independence. ...

Later life

In 1972, he received his knighthood, but suffered a major stroke two years later. It took several months of recovery before he realised one side of his body would be permanently paralysed. Although he learnt to write and draw with his left hand, as well as having all his cameras adapted, Beaton became frustrated by the new limitations the stroke had put upon his work. 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... The silver Anglia knight, commissioned as a trophy in 1850, intended to represent the Black Prince. ...

As a result of his stroke, Beaton became anxious about financial security for his old age and, in 1976, entered into negotiations with Philippe Garner, expert-in-charge of photographs at Sotheby's. On behalf of the auction house, Garner acquired Beaton's archive - excluding all portraits of the Royal Family, and the five decades of prints held by Vogue in London, Paris and New York. Garner, who had almost singlehandedly invented the photographic auction, oversaw the archive's preservation and partial dispersal, so that Beaton's only tangible assets, and what he considered his life's work, would ensure him an annual income. The first of five auctions was held in 1977, the last in 1980. 1976 (MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday. ... PR shot of Sothebys New York, from auditions for The Apprentice 2  It should be possible to replace this fair use image with a freely licensed one. ... City flag City coat of arms Motto: Fluctuat nec mergitur (Latin: Tossed by the waves, she does not sink) Paris Eiffel tower as seen from the esplanade du Trocadéro. ... NY redirects here. ... For the album by Ash, see 1977 (album). ... 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday. ...

By the end of the 1970s, Beaton's health had faded to that of an old man. In January 1980, he passed away during the night at his grand home in Salisbury^[8]. The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, inclusive. ... 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... Salisbury (IPA: , or — moving from RP to local dialect) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England. ...

Personal life

Though primarily homosexual — the great love of his life was the wealthy art collector Peter Watson - he did have relationships with women, including the actress Greta Garbo and socialite Doris Castlerosse. He claimed that his heterosexual virginity was taken by American socialite Marjorie Oelrichs. Beaton also claimed to have had an affair with the American actor Gary Cooper, who was a close friend of his for many years. Since its coinage, the word homosexuality has acquired multiple meanings. ... Victor William (Peter) Watson (September 14, 1908 – May 3, 1956) was a wealthy art collector in England in the 20th century. ... This article or section is not written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article. ... Gary Cooper (born Frank James Cooper May 7, 1901 – May 13, 1961) was a two-time Academy Award-winning American film actor of English heritage. ...

Portfolio of works

Notable Photographs

• Elizabeth II's Coronation, 1953.
• Audrey Hepburn, 1964.
• Bomb Victim, 1940.
• Dame Edith Sitwell, 1956.

Books

• Ashcombe The Story of a Fifteen-Year Lease,1949
• Persona Grata, 1953.
• Indian Diary and Album
• The glass of fashion
• My Bolivian aunt: a memoir
• My royal past
• Chinese Diary and Album
• Japanese
• Ballet
• Portrait of New York
• Self-portrait with friends : the selected diaries of Cecil Beaton 1926-1974.
• The wandering years; diaries, 1922-1939.
• The years between; diaries 1939-44.
• The strenuous years, diaries 1948-55.
• The restless years : diaries, 1955-63.
• The parting years : diaries, 1963-74.
• The Unexpurgated Beaton: The Cecil Beaton Diaries as He Wrote Them, 1970-1980.
• Beaton in the Sixties: The Cecil Beaton Diaries as He Wrote Them, 1965-1969
• Cecil Beaton's 'Fair Lady', (1966) (diary excerpts and costume sketches)
• The face of the world : an international scrapbook of people and places.
• I take great pleasure.
• Quail in Aspic: the life story of Count Charles Korsetz

Exhibitions

Major exhibitions have been held at the National Portrait Gallery in London in 1968 and in 2004. The National Portrait Gallery is an art gallery in St Martins Place, London, England, which opened to the public in 1856. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The first international exhibition in thirty years, and first exhibition of his works to be held in Australia was held in Bendigo, Victoria from 10 December 2005 to 26 March 2006. Bendigo is a regional city in central Victoria, Australia, located in the City of Greater Bendigo. ... Capital Melbourne Government Const. ... December 10 is the 344th day (345th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, 21 days before the next year. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... March 26 is the 85th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (86th in leap years). ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ...

References

• Charles Spencer: Cecil Beaton Stage and Film Designs (Art & Design Monographs), 1995, ISBN 1-85490-398-5
• Hugo Vickers: Cecil Beaton, 1985, ISBN 1-55611-021-9

External links

• Cecil Beaton at the Internet Movie Database
• Cecil Beaton biography and credits at the BFI's Screenonline
• Cecil Beaton's biographic sketch at Find A Grave
• Cecil Beaton in the National Portrait Gallery
• 'Beaton's Portraits' published by the National Portrait Gallery.
• Internet Broadway Database - Work of Cecil Beaton
• Cecil Beaton archive in the Theatre Collection, University of Bristol
• Gay Great - Cecil Beaton