He is a dancing boy who travels in the British royal family, literary circles, and Hollywood; He is a royal photographer for the British Royal Family;
Close collaborators of Vogue magazines in the UK, US and France; Inspired the heavyweight predecessors of fashion photography godmother Anne Leibowitz and portrait photography genius Tim Walker; He has won three Academy Awards and four and one time nominated for the Tony Award, the highest award for American drama and drama.
Photographers, costume designers, stage designers, journalists, writers... He cannot be summed up in a few simple titles. Because that is only his nature, it is destined for him to interpret his glorious years with extraordinary achievements and infinite energy.
Cecil Beaton: The Glorious Years
Selfie in 1951
What to aspire to, only you know
"They don't understand who I am or what I want."
Cecil Beaton was born on 14 January 1904 to a wealthy merchant family in Hampstead, London. From an early age, he knew that he was incompatible with others and was never understood by his parents.
During his boring time at Harrow College, he didn't like to read and didn't like sports like the average boy. "I was quiet, weak and a bit girly when I was in Harrow. I've never played football and haven't done anything like that. I'm dressed well and want to look pretty because it makes me happy. ”
When Beaton got bored, he and his friends went to the nearby forest in strange costumes to take pictures "in the most artistic way."
Cecil Beaton in The Latest Trends produced by the Footlight Club, Cambridge, 1925
During his time at Cambridge University, he also did not care about his studies, and a lot of energy was spent in the Amateur Dramatic Club and the Marlowe Society.
The two clubs were also high-profile at the time, often attracting audiences from London and receiving comments in the National Daily.
Cecil Beaton photographed the actors in the club and helped the show draw the background and design the stage. Beaton also often submitted his photographs to various magazines.
For the first time, he published photographs of his sisters in magazines such as Britain and Eve under various pseudonyms. He carefully dressed his sister and carefully made the background for shooting. And no matter how casual and simple his raw materials, those sets and costumes show Beaton's advanced and highly aesthetic ability.
Baba Beaton, "The Mysterious Beauty", 1926
Nancy Beaton dressed in costumes designed by Cecil Beaton and Oliver Messer for the Galactic Ball, 1929
Barbara Beaton and Nancy Beaton, circa 1927
In 1924, a portrait depicting the Duchess of Malfi was finally accepted by Vogue. But that photo was actually a cross-dressing photo of classmate George Rylands.
Inseparable art and communication
In 1925, Beaton left Cambridge without a degree, and although he had accumulated experience in sets, costumes, etc., this did not really help Beaton at that time.
He was neither able to work with peace of mind under his father's arrangement, nor was he able to make a name for himself in the artistic exploration of Venice. After returning to London again, he began to seriously consider his identity.
He did everything he could to build his profile, worked hard to get the attention of the media and patrons, and worked hard to place himself at the center of the fashion society.
In the 1920s, Beaton met and became a member of Bright Young Things. These young aristocrats, aged 20 and 30, embody the decadence, extravagance and glitz that pervaded London in the twenties and thirties.
Beaton photographed these young socialites, heirs, and artists, but he was also drawn to figures such as Osbert, Edith Sitwell, and Stephen Tinnant. Also through Edith, she met her brother Osbert Sitwell.
William Walton, Cecil Beaton, Stephen Tennant, Zita Jongman, Georgia Sitwell, Theresa Ronman and Rex Whistler in the "Glorious Young" group, Wellsford, 1927
Stephen Tennant
Stephen Tennant plays Prince Charming, 1927
In November 1927, Osbert assisted Beaton in curating his first exhibition at Cooling Galleries, where Helton earned fame for his opulent works.
Beaton signed a contract with Vogue, which allowed him to buy cotton cloth decorated with dots, stars, stripes, and metal foil in various textures. And these things, together, made up Cecil Beaton's original style.
Embark on a brilliant career in fashion photography
In 1928, Beaton came to New York and soon got a job at Vogue. For the next decade, he worked as a photographer there, while also having endless opportunities to travel the world, take photos of celebrities, and meet them.
During this time, Vogue asked Beaton to replace his fast camera with more professional photographic equipment. But Beaton wasn't interested in the technical side of photography.
Anne Leibowitz commented in Cecil Beaton: The Glorious Years: "The photographic process, the performance during the photographic process, is Beaton's art." He is a master in this regard. ”
Beaton complained that Conte Nass insisted that he drop his compact Kodak camera, asking him to use an 8×10 larger camera like Steiken (because the tone and sharpness in Beaton's "snapshot" were not satisfactory to him). In the end he compromised. After changing to a large-size dry-plate camera, the picture quality of the photo itself has been greatly improved.
In the early 1930s, he met two photographers, George Hoyningen-Huene and Horst P. Horst, whose dramatic photography created the unique fashion photography style of the 1930s and was invited by celebrities in Hollywood.
Tilly Lotch plays the nun in Miracles, with costumes designed by Oliver Messer, 1932
Ronald Armstrong — Mrs. Jones dressed in clothing designed by her brother Oliver Messer, 1930
Gary Cooper, Hollywood, 1931
Johnny Wesmuller as Tarzan in Tarzan the Apes, Hollywood, 1932
His portraits from this period to the 1930s show that he paid increasing attention to facial close-ups, often strongly modeled through chiaroscuro, but also increasingly incorporated floral motifs. These make the image immediacy and fresh.
Fred Astaire and Adele Astaire
Charles James, 1936
On closer inspection, however, they do not fully retain what they originally called natural properties. Beaton's aesthetic remains highly artistic and heavily influenced by surrealism, and he often arranges props in a wild style.
Orson Wells with a bust of Shakespeare, circa 1943
Gala Dalí and Salvador Dalí and Dalí's The Confused Couple, 1936
Later, he showed more skill and insight in his works. On more than one occasion, the chaotic arrangement of the image is reduced to only a cut white cloth, and the subject exposed from the crack seems to be between two curtains. His drama becomes a tool in the service of connotation. He became a master of portrait photography.
George Pratt, Lanes, 1937
Aldous Huxley, 1936
Because of his relationships with condé Nast in the United States and the United Kingdom, he was familiar with the studios in Hollywood as he was with the environment of the British royal family. The subjects he can photograph are endless.
After the abdication of the famous "Don't Love the Beauty" of 1936, the British Royal Family desperately needed a new image that Beaton was able to give.
The public considered Wales Simpson to be a manipulative person, and Beaton presented her photographs with a softer female figure. These photographs also made Beaton gradually become a court photographer for the British royal family.
The Duke and Duchess of Windsor at their wedding, Castle gauntlet, France, 1937
Battlefield photography was Beaton's unexpected strength
In 1938, Due to an anti-Semitic speech on Vogue, Beaton's close relationship with Vogue came to an abrupt end. The issue of the magazine containing anti-Semitic remarks was retracted at a high cost, but the harsh consequences of the remarks prevented him from seeking a job, and he was advised to leave New York in light of the strong public opposition to him.
In 1939, the outbreak of war saved his profession to some extent. While Beaton was previously best known for the glitz and glamour of his shots, he proved to be an accomplished "unconventional" war photographer.
During this time, Beaton took extremely influential photographs that established him as a versatile photographer whose practice transcended the realm of fashion.
The ruins of London, especially the remains of the most poignant and majestic churches, need to be documented. He defiantly used the ruins of the bombing as a set, and filmed the feature "Fashion Is Not Extinguished" for Vogue magazine. Tender, slightly sexy photographs of male soldiers at close range, elegant images of female soldiers, and horrific situations of plane wreckage in Egypt's western desert all appear in his footage.
Bell Tower on the West Side of St. Paul's Cathedral after the Incendiary Bomb Raid, London, December 29, 1940
St. Lawrence Synagogue, London, December 1940
Air Force Lieutenant James Daly, Distinguished Flying Cross, Ace Pilot of RAF 121st Squadron, member of American Condor Squadron, March 1942
Western Desert, Egypt, 1942 121 Air Force Women's Auxiliary Team Member Repairs Air Ball, May 1941
"Fashion Is Not Dead", Tweed Suit by Digby Morton, Middle Temple Bar School, London, 1941
Benjamin Britten, 1942
Selfie with Admiral Louis Mountbatten, Fariedgood Estate, Delhi, India, 1944
In 1944, he went to the Burmese front and later trekked to China to witness the Resistance of the Nationalist Army against the Japanese Army. Exhausted, he returned to post-liberation Paris to stay with Duff Cooper and Diana Cooper at the British Embassy.
The world-famous Picasso, who remained in Paris during the German occupation, allowed Beaton to take free photos of himself and his work in his studio. These photographs belong to one of the greatest records of that period.
Mrs. Diana Cooper and Duff Cooper, Viscount of Norwich, British Embassy in Paris, December 1944
Pablo Picasso, Rue d'Agustin, Paris, 1944
Pablo Picasso sits in front of his painting Swinging Chair, Rue d'Agustin, Paris, 1944
A day and a lifetime with Garbo
In the 1940s, Beaton's photographs reappeared in Vogue magazines in the UK and THE US.
Toward the end of the war, Vogue magazine commissioned Beaton to photograph several celebrities, including Lily Elsie, Mrs. Diana Cooper and Gritta Garbo.
Beaton had always admired Garbo, meeting her for the first time ten years earlier, but it wasn't until 1946 that he had a chance to get close. In a room at the Plaza Hotel in New York, Beaton took a photo of Greta Garbo. And this group of photographs can also be ranked among his finest portraits.
Anne Leibowitz said: "Anyone who aspires to be a portrait photographer should take a good look at Beaton's work for Greta Garbo in his room at the Plaza Hotel in New York in 1946. ”
The number of photographs he took for Garbo was considerable and varied, and these were taken only in this time of day.
Beaton created them almost out of thin air. At the time of filming, Beaton had no assistants and no professional lighting.
He first took Garbo to the window and created a soft light effect with the tulle lace curtains he hung there. She just sat in a chair.
Greta Garbo, Plaza Hotel, New York, 1946
Next, she took off her coat and sat down on the couch. Finally, she lay down on the couch. And so those great portraits were born. She lay on her back. Although she didn't look at Beaton, you could feel her awareness of Beaton.
Greta Garbo, Plaza Hotel, New York, 1946
Then she rolled over and lay prone there. In some of the photos, she is smoking. Beaton took a lamp from the table and illuminated her with a bare bulb—as he had done when he was a teenager photographing his sisters.
She always said she was going to leave soon, but then she gradually immersed herself in it and naturally completed what she knew how to do. He took out some prop costumes and asked the actress to play a role and change costumes. The pointed hat tucked away her hair, and the Ralph collar set off her extraordinary face.
It's an exchange between an arrogant goddess and an obsessive photographer. Beaton has been in love with Garbo for many years and solemnly proposes to Garbo. His 1930 book The Book of Beauties included sketches of him for Garbo, claiming that she had the most beautiful face of the century and was the most charismatic figure in the world.
Beaton has dated a lot of men and women. But he has always loved Garbo and has been in touch with her for the rest of his life.
Greta Garbo, Salisbury Cathedral, 1960
Non-stop pursuit
Throughout the 50s, Cecil Beaton took photographs for countless celebrities. Vivien Leigh, Ingrid Bergman, Elizabeth Taylor Greta Garbo, Audrey Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe, Gary Cooper, Marlon Brando and other popular Hollywood stars are all left in his lens.
At the same time, Beaton still continues to communicate with artists from all disciplines. Christian Berard, Barbara Karinska, Jean Koctor, Truman Capote and Pavel Tricho, Balanchin, Jacmetti, Stravinsky, Lucian Freud, David Hockney, Andy Warhol... These artists constantly inspire his whimsy and creativity.
Ingrid Bergman, 1958
Marilyn Monroe, Ambassador Hotel, New York, 1956
Somerset Maugham, 1958
Lucian Freud, Combe Abbey in Dorset, 1956
Truman Cabot, Bangkok, 1957
Francis Bacon, Overtland Mansion, Battersea, London, 1960
Andy Warhol, "Ultraviolet" Isabelle Colin Dufreña stands to his left, Canti Darling kneeling beside Warhol, Brigitte Berlin standing behind Warhol, New York "Factory," 1969
Mick Jagger on the set of Psychedelic Performances, 1968
Hepburn, Audrey, 1954
After great success as a photographer, Beaton still doesn't forget to return to his passion for clothing and set design. Beaton enrolled in a course at the Slade Academy of Fine Arts, which allowed him to improve his painting and drawing skills.
By the mid-1950s, Beaton had gained a foothold in the field. Cecil Beaton won the Academy Award for Best Costume Design for Kiki and The Lady.
Plagued by self-doubt
While Beaton's enterprising and optimistic spirit is contagious, he is also known for speaking sharply. Some of his public diaries are filled with evaluations of the stars he met.
His Duchess of Windsor commented: "Just listening to her has turned to the stomach, and her voice is hoarse and terrible. I didn't want to see her, mediocre and vulgar and noisy. As a second-rate American, she lacks charm, but now what she does is far-fetched for everyone to be "elegant." The whole of London's social circle echoed her, as if anticipating that she would be the king's lover or future wife..."
Duchess of Windsor, Castle of Gauntí, France, 1937
In 1971, Beaton took photographs of Elizabeth Taylor and her husband, Richard Burton. But he commented: "I have always hated the vulgar, ordinary, rude low-grade tastes of the Burtons, who blend the worst tastes of the United States and britain... Her breasts were tall and large, like a peasant woman in Peru nursing her child. On her fat and rough hands were more of the biggest diamonds and emeralds, and that was the most "attractive" woman. In contrast, everyone else looks very ladylike..."
As a bisexual, Beaton was also troubled by this. He wrote in his 1966 diary: "In recent years, the tolerance of this topic has turned into nonsense many of the prejudices I suffered in my youth... I also realized that now that I walked into a room full of people, I would no longer feel ashamed... And, with my success at work, it became much easier. ”
Elizabeth Taylor, circa 1953
But none of this could prevent Cecil Beaton from knowing and digging into himself. "Be brave and fearless, be different, be unrealistic, resist any purpose and imagination that leads to mediocrity," Cecil Beaton's constant emphasis also led him to become the most wonderful person of the last century.
Cecil Beaton died on 18 January 1980 at Redish Manor in Wiltshire.
Sotheby's acquired tens of thousands of photographs and negatives in Beaton's later years, along with his photo albums, and founded the British Sotheby's Cecil Beaton Studio Archive, and an pictorial account of his life, Cecil Beaton: The Glorious Years, was born.
Click on the image above to collect the book
From the ups and downs of the 20th century to the most intimate people's faces
Fashion photography heavyweight predecessors record the glorious years of a generation
Author: Sotheby's Cecil Beaton Studio Archives, UK
The order of the photographs in the book implies the story of Birton's life. In the book, Beaton uses his own visual and photographic record of everything from the young artist community, to Hollywood's most popular stars, from Andy Warhol to the Rolling Stones, from playboys of the 1920s to Sir Cecil Beaton...
The repetition of those closest to him in the book allows us to witness them grow older, to witness Stephen Tennant's transformation from a gay and beautiful teenager in the late 1920s to a dying old man in the early 1970s, to witness the changing looks and unchanging glory of each decade in Beaton's selfies.