Synopses & Reviews
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.
Review
"Cecil Beaton's fantastic, prolific career never goes out of style, judging by the number of books featuring his writings, drawings, and photographs. This new compilation, edited by Beaton's biographer and literary executor pairs striking portraits with selections from the photographer's diaries and other works. The range of eras and subjects demonstrates that Beaton (1904â??80) knew everyone who was anyone from the 1920s to the 1970s: Queen Elizabeth, Mick Jagger, Colette, Marlene Dietrich, Truman Capote, Margot Fonteyn, Pablo Picasso, Winston Churchill, Twiggy, Marilyn Monroe, to name a few. Vickers adds brief biographical notes about the famous figures and their relationships with the portraitist. Photos are grouped into categories, including "The Roaring Twenties," "High Society, Haute Couture," and "The Peacock Revolution," and indexed by name. Jean Cocteau (also featured in the book) dubbed Beaton "Malice in Wonderland" for catty remarks on his subjects, but venom is mostly de-emphasized here in favor of chatty and charming anecdotes. In several self-portraits, the artist turns the camera on himself at various ages, looking appropriately debonair and ever conscious of the demands of celebrity and posterity. VERDICT Beaton's sharp eye and sharper pen continue to fascinate in this handsome coffee-table survey of his work." - Library Journal
Review
"In this marvelous party of a book - Cecil Beaton: Portraits and Profiles, edited by Hugo Vickers - actors mingle with artists, writers with royalty, socialites with sybarites, and Beaton (who scribbled as he shot) has the last piercing, often-prescient word on everyone. On Marilyn Monroe: 'She romps, she squeals...It is an artless, impromptu, high-spirited, inefectiously gay performance. It will probably end in tears.'" - Amanda Lovell, More Magazine
Synopsis
This beautiful collection of fabulous photographs and incisive pen portraits captures the world of Cecil Beaton, one of the most celebrated portrait photographers of the twentieth century.
Cecil Beaton: Portraits and Profiles?combines Beaton's photographic and pen portraits. Beaton's portraits offer insight, beauty, witty observations and a fascinating glimpse into his world. His images often flattered but his diaries and journals didn't necessarily follow suit and he was described by Jean Cocteau as Malice in Wonderland'. ?
Included are stars of music, fashion, society, stage and screen. From Mick Jagger and Andy Warhol, Coco Chanel and Princess Grace through to Greta Garbo, Elizabeth Taylor and Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dali.
Of Audrey Hepburn, Beaton said she is like a portrait by Modigliani where the various distortions are not only interesting in themselves but make a completely satisfying composite'.
Marilyn Monroe 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'.
Marlon Brando was 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'
Cecil Beaton's life spanned many worlds and these are captured here through his fabulous photographs and incisive observations.?