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Cecil Beaton: Portraits and Profiles
Cecil Beaton was a fashion, portrait and war photographer, a diarist, painter, interior designer and an Academy Award-winning stage and costume designer. He is one of the most celebrated portrait photographers of the twentieth century and is renowned for his images of elegance, glamour and style.
Portraits by Beaton: Photographs and Diaries combines Beaton's photographic and pen portraits. His images often flattered but his diaries and journals didn't necessarily follow suit; he was described by Jean Cocteau as ‘Malice in Wonderland'. Grouped together chronologically in chapters on Bright Young Things, The War Years, High Society, Hollywood Royalty, and The Peacock Revolution, Beaton's portraits offer insight, beauty, witty observations and a fascinating glimpse into his world.
Included are Fred Astaire, Mick Jagger, Marlon Brando (‘pallid as a mushroom, smooth-skinned and scarred, with curved feminine lips and silky hair, he seems as unhealthy as a lame duck. Yet his ram-like profile has the harsh strength of the gutter'), Maria Callas, Coco Chanel, Greta Garbo, Audrey Hepburn (‘she is like a portrait by Modigliani where the various distortions are not only interesting in themselves but make a completely satisfying composite'), Elizabeth Taylor, Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, Marilyn Monroe (‘she romps, she squeals with delight, she leaps on the sofa. It is an artless, impromptu, high-spirited, infectiously gay performance. It will probably end in tears'), Princess Grace, Queen Elizabeth and Winston Churchill.
Cecil Beaton's life spanned many worlds and these are captured here through his fabulous photographs and incisive pen portraits.
Portraits by Beaton: Photographs and Diaries combines Beaton's photographic and pen portraits. His images often flattered but his diaries and journals didn't necessarily follow suit; he was described by Jean Cocteau as ‘Malice in Wonderland'. Grouped together chronologically in chapters on Bright Young Things, The War Years, High Society, Hollywood Royalty, and The Peacock Revolution, Beaton's portraits offer insight, beauty, witty observations and a fascinating glimpse into his world.
Included are Fred Astaire, Mick Jagger, Marlon Brando (‘pallid as a mushroom, smooth-skinned and scarred, with curved feminine lips and silky hair, he seems as unhealthy as a lame duck. Yet his ram-like profile has the harsh strength of the gutter'), Maria Callas, Coco Chanel, Greta Garbo, Audrey Hepburn (‘she is like a portrait by Modigliani where the various distortions are not only interesting in themselves but make a completely satisfying composite'), Elizabeth Taylor, Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, Marilyn Monroe (‘she romps, she squeals with delight, she leaps on the sofa. It is an artless, impromptu, high-spirited, infectiously gay performance. It will probably end in tears'), Princess Grace, Queen Elizabeth and Winston Churchill.
Cecil Beaton's life spanned many worlds and these are captured here through his fabulous photographs and incisive pen portraits.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published October 4, 2014
496 people want to read
About the author
Cecil Beaton
173 books46 followersPeople noted sets and costumes of British photographer, diarist, and theatrical designer Cecil Walter Hardy Beaton for
My Fair Lady
on stage in 1956 and on film in 1964.
Cecil Beaton first styled his sisters decadently. His unique flair for elegance and fantasy led him to the most successful and influential portrait and fashion of the 20th century. From Adolf de Meyer, baron, and Edward Jean Steichen as sources of inspiration, he nevertheless developed all his own style. He worked for Vogue for more than a quarter-century and also as court official to the royal family in 1937. A constant innovator, Beaton worked for five decades to captivate some figures of his time from Edith Sitwell to the Rolling Stones, Greta Garbo, Jean Cocteau, and Marilyn Monroe.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cecil_B...
Cecil Beaton first styled his sisters decadently. His unique flair for elegance and fantasy led him to the most successful and influential portrait and fashion of the 20th century. From Adolf de Meyer, baron, and Edward Jean Steichen as sources of inspiration, he nevertheless developed all his own style. He worked for Vogue for more than a quarter-century and also as court official to the royal family in 1937. A constant innovator, Beaton worked for five decades to captivate some figures of his time from Edith Sitwell to the Rolling Stones, Greta Garbo, Jean Cocteau, and Marilyn Monroe.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cecil_B...
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
February 4, 2018
I'm not sure that I had heard the name Cecil Beaton before receiving this book, but I have learned that his body of work is prolific and ubiquitous. Perhaps most famously, he won an academy award for his work on the costumes and set of the 1964 film adaptation of My Fair Lady. It was pure pleasure to peruse his prodigious life, work, and relationships in Cecil Beaton: Portraits and Profiles.
The book is something of a sampler in layout. The chapters are loosely chronological, but mostly thematic (Hollywood, The War Years, Artists, Writers, etc.), and each begins with a brief explanation by Hugo Vickers, Beaton's official biographer. Within the chapters, each entry comprises a photograph of the subject on the left, and Beaton's written impression of the subject on the right, followed by a short and selective bio of the subject from Vickers. At my most coldly critical, I was not that impressed by Vickers' writing, but this is a book of photographs, meant to be looked at more than it is meant to be read.
Beaton's writing I found more interesting. He is very intent on discovering a physical understanding of his friends, enemies, and photographic subjects. He describes people with a visual, visceral language that, if not totally unbiased, presents his thoughts and impressions honestly. He does not hesitate to deem someone "ugly", however the word does not seem to carry the same meaning for him that it does for everyone else. His writing is yet another lens through which he observes people.
Of course, the real draw of this book is Beaton's photographs. To begin with, Beaton knew everyone. Everyone. He found his life's passion not only in the creation of his own art, but in the seeking out of talent and beauty elsewhere. He had an eye for rising stars. In this book you will find pictured Monroe, Garbo, and a couple of Hepburns; queens, dukes, duchesses, and princes; Rolling Stones and rock stars; and of course, writers, artists, dancers, and even other photographers. His work spans the 1920s through the 1970s; there is someone in this book that you want to look at.
Famous people aside, Beaton was a preternaturally talented visual artist. His photographs are entrancing. Not only can he manipulate light and shadow, line and shape, but he is a master of props as well. Each picture is truly a portrait, capturing personality along with physical form. Most of the photographs in this collection are black and white, but we are given the opportunity to view his skills with colour in a few portraits as well. If you are interested in photography, famous people of the twentieth century, or both, then this book is for you. -RH
The book is something of a sampler in layout. The chapters are loosely chronological, but mostly thematic (Hollywood, The War Years, Artists, Writers, etc.), and each begins with a brief explanation by Hugo Vickers, Beaton's official biographer. Within the chapters, each entry comprises a photograph of the subject on the left, and Beaton's written impression of the subject on the right, followed by a short and selective bio of the subject from Vickers. At my most coldly critical, I was not that impressed by Vickers' writing, but this is a book of photographs, meant to be looked at more than it is meant to be read.
Beaton's writing I found more interesting. He is very intent on discovering a physical understanding of his friends, enemies, and photographic subjects. He describes people with a visual, visceral language that, if not totally unbiased, presents his thoughts and impressions honestly. He does not hesitate to deem someone "ugly", however the word does not seem to carry the same meaning for him that it does for everyone else. His writing is yet another lens through which he observes people.
Of course, the real draw of this book is Beaton's photographs. To begin with, Beaton knew everyone. Everyone. He found his life's passion not only in the creation of his own art, but in the seeking out of talent and beauty elsewhere. He had an eye for rising stars. In this book you will find pictured Monroe, Garbo, and a couple of Hepburns; queens, dukes, duchesses, and princes; Rolling Stones and rock stars; and of course, writers, artists, dancers, and even other photographers. His work spans the 1920s through the 1970s; there is someone in this book that you want to look at.
Famous people aside, Beaton was a preternaturally talented visual artist. His photographs are entrancing. Not only can he manipulate light and shadow, line and shape, but he is a master of props as well. Each picture is truly a portrait, capturing personality along with physical form. Most of the photographs in this collection are black and white, but we are given the opportunity to view his skills with colour in a few portraits as well. If you are interested in photography, famous people of the twentieth century, or both, then this book is for you. -RH
May 27, 2016
Phenomenally beautiful melding of art and history. Fascinating. Beaton is as artistic in his writing as he is behind the lens.
March 4, 2020
Beautiful words and pictures!!!
October 10, 2024
A wonderful portrait of a bygone age. The combination of iconic photographs with witty prose for each subject works very well. An ideal coffee table book - so easy and rewarding to dip into.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews