{"id":8966,"date":"2014-09-10T17:13:48","date_gmt":"2014-09-10T22:13:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stephenlirakis.com\/?p=8966"},"modified":"2014-09-10T17:13:48","modified_gmt":"2014-09-10T22:13:48","slug":"cecil-beaton-exhibit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stephenlirakis.com\/?p=8966","title":{"rendered":"CECIL BEATON EXHIBIT"},"content":{"rendered":"
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exhibition: \u2018cecil beaton at wilton\u2019 at wilton house, wiltshire and \u2018cecil beaton at home: ashcombe & reddish\u2019, at the salisbury\u00a0museum<\/a><\/h3>\n
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By\u00a0Dr Marcus Bunyan<\/a><\/span><\/span>\u00a0Leave a\u00a0Comment<\/a><\/div>\n
Categories:\u00a0beauty<\/a>,\u00a0black and white photography<\/a>,\u00a0Cecil Beaton<\/a>,\u00a0colour photography<\/a>,\u00a0designer<\/a>,\u00a0documentary photography<\/a>,\u00a0English artist<\/a>,exhibition<\/a>,\u00a0existence<\/a>,\u00a0fashion photography<\/a>,\u00a0gallery website<\/a>,\u00a0intimacy<\/a>,\u00a0landscape<\/a>,\u00a0light<\/a>,\u00a0London<\/a>,\u00a0photographic series<\/a>,\u00a0photography<\/a>,\u00a0portrait<\/a>,\u00a0space<\/a>,time<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0works on paper<\/a><\/span>
\nTags:\u00a0Alice von Hofmannsthal<\/a>,\u00a0All the Vogue<\/a>,\u00a0Ashcombe & Reddish<\/a>,\u00a0Ashcombe House<\/a>,\u00a0Bright Young People<\/a>,\u00a0Cecil Beaton<\/a>,\u00a0Cecil Beaton Alice von Hofmannsthal<\/a>,\u00a0Cecil Beaton at Home: Ashcombe & Reddish<\/a>,\u00a0Cecil Beaton at Wilton<\/a>,\u00a0Cecil Beaton Cecil Beaton in his first costume of the night<\/a>,Cecil Beaton Cecil Beaton on the front steps of Reddish House<\/a>,\u00a0Cecil Beaton Dorian Leigh<\/a>,\u00a0Cecil Beaton Edith Olivier Mayor of Wilton<\/a>,\u00a0Cecil Beaton Frontispiece montage for Cecil Beaton\u2019s Scrapbook<\/a>,\u00a0Cecil Beaton Georgia Sitwell<\/a>,\u00a0Cecil Beaton in “All the Vogue”<\/a>,\u00a0Cecil Beaton in his first costume of the night<\/a>,\u00a0Cecil Beaton Lady Plunket (Doroth\u00e9) and Mr Maurice<\/a>,\u00a0Cecil Beaton on the front steps of Reddish House<\/a>,\u00a0Cecil Beaton on the Palladian bridge at Wilton House<\/a>,\u00a0Cecil Beaton Princess Natasha Paley<\/a>,\u00a0Cecil Beaton Rex Whistler<\/a>,\u00a0Cecil Beaton Studio Archive<\/a>,\u00a0Cecil Beaton The 15th Earl and Countess of Pembroke dressed for the coronation of George VI<\/a>,\u00a0Cecil Beaton The Countess of Pembroke acting in Beaton’s musical “Heil Cinderella”<\/a>,\u00a0Cecil Beaton The Countess of Pembroke in her Robes for the Coronation of George VI<\/a>,\u00a0Cecil Beaton\u2019s Scrapbook<\/a>,\u00a0Circus bedroom<\/a>,Coronation of George VI<\/a>,\u00a0costume balls<\/a>,\u00a0country house parties<\/a>,\u00a0Dorian Leigh<\/a>,\u00a0East Front of Wilton House<\/a>,\u00a0Edith Olivier<\/a>,\u00a0Edith Olivier Mayor of Wilton<\/a>,\u00a0Frontispiece montage for Cecil Beaton\u2019s Scrapbook<\/a>,\u00a0Georgia Sitwell<\/a>,\u00a0Heil Cinderella<\/a>,\u00a0Henry Lamb<\/a>,\u00a0Henry Lamb Portrait of Cecil Beaton<\/a>,\u00a0Lady Plunket<\/a>,\u00a0Lady Plunket (Doroth\u00e9) and Mr Maurice<\/a>,\u00a0Palladian Bridge at Wilton House<\/a>,\u00a0Princess Natasha Paley<\/a>,\u00a0Reddish House<\/a>,\u00a0Rex Whistler<\/a>,\u00a0Rex Whistler Ashcombe House<\/a>,\u00a0Sotheby’s Cecil Beaton Studio Archive<\/a>,\u00a0Stephen Tennant<\/a>,\u00a0The 15th Earl and Countess of Pembroke<\/a>,\u00a0The 15th Earl and Countess of Pembroke dressed for the coronation of George VI<\/a>,\u00a0The Anti Dud Ball<\/a>,\u00a0The Countess of Pembroke<\/a>,\u00a0The Countess of Pembroke acting in Beaton’s musical “Heil Cinderella”<\/a>,\u00a0The Countess of Pembroke in her Robes for the Coronation of George VI<\/a>,\u00a0The Gardener\u2019s Daughter<\/a>,\u00a0William Walton<\/a>,\u00a0Wilton House<\/a>,\u00a0Zita Jungman<\/a>
\n<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Exhibition dates:\u00a0Cecil Beaton at Wilton:<\/em>\u00a03rd May \u2013 14th September 2014
\nCecil Beaton at Home: Ashcombe & Reddish:<\/em>\u00a023rd May \u2013 19th September 2014<\/h4>\n

Bright Young Things, Costume Balls And Country House Parties<\/strong>
\nFrom The Roaring \u201920s To The Swinging \u201960s<\/strong>
\nAn Exhibition Of Cecil Beaton Photographs<\/strong>
\nDesigned And Curated By Jasper Conran<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What a gay old time!<\/p>\n

Frippery and finery taken by that dandy doyen of chic Cecil Beaton, partying\u00a0in a highly structured class society that\u00a0is seemingly\u00a0oblivious to the approaching\u00a0horrors of the Second World War (which only adds to the photographs\u00a0air of\u00a0insouciance)<\/span>. It must have been so much fun.<\/p>\n

The thing is, Beaton was a talented\u00a0artist who captured it all with total aplomb. To go from the haughty, stylish\u00a0Georgia Sitwell, Renishaw\u00a0<\/em>(1930, below) to the Arcadian beauty of\u00a0Rex Whistler\u00a0<\/em>(1927, below); from the formal organisation of\u00a0The 15th Earl and Countess of Pembroke dressed for the coronation of George VI\u00a0<\/em>(1937, below) to the classic beauty of\u00a0Princess Natasha Paley\u00a0<\/em>(1930s, below); or the structure and stillness of\u00a0Alice von Hofmannsthal\u00a0<\/em>(1937, below) to the vivaciousness and movement of\u00a0Lady Plunket (Doroth\u00e9) and Mr Maurice<\/em>(1937, below) \u2013 takes a consistency of vision and an understanding of craft that few photographers possess.<\/p>\n

The photograph of \u00a0Lady Plunket\u00a0<\/em>is\u00a0particularly astonishing\u2026 to see this composition in the twinkling of an eye: the movement, the joy, the flower in the hair, the women with the crossed legs in the background, and\u00a0just the sheer grace of the couple, he suspended on one foot, she flying through the air. Unforgettable.<\/p>\n

Marcus<\/p>\n

.
\nMany thankx to Sotheby\u2019s, Wilton House and The Salisbury Museum for allowing me to publish the photographs in the posting. Please click on the photographs for a larger version of the image.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"East<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

East Front of Wilton House<\/em>
\n\u00a9 Wilton House Trust<\/span><\/p>\n

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\"'Cecil<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Cecil Beaton at Wilton\u00a0<\/em>installation view
\n\u00a9 The Cecil Beaton Studio Archive<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Cecil<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Cecil Beaton<\/strong>
\nEdith Olivier, Mayor of Wilton, as Queen Elizabeth I for a pageant at Wilton<\/em>
\n1932
\n\u00a9 Cecil Beaton Archive, Sotheby\u2019s<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Edith Maud Olivier<\/b>\u00a0MBE\u00a0(31 December 1872 \u2013 10 May 1948) was an English writer, also noted for acting as hostess to a circle of well-known writers, artists, and composers in her native\u00a0Wiltshire\u2026\u00a0<\/span>Olivier had lived with her father and younger sister Mildred, and it was after Mildred died in 1927 that she started to engage a broader social circle.\u00a0<\/span>She formed a profound friendship with\u00a0Rex Whistler\u00a0<\/span>and acted as a frequent hostess to an elite, artistic, and largely homosexual, social set which included\u00a0Cecil Beaton,\u00a0Siegfried Sassoon,\u00a0William Walton, and\u00a0Osbert Sitwell.<\/p>\n

Her first novel,\u00a0The Love Child<\/i>\u00a0was published in 1927, and was followed by further novels, biographies, including one of\u00a0Alexander Cruden, and the autobiographical\u00a0Without Knowing Mr Walkley<\/i>. (Text from Wikipedia website)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Cecil<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Cecil Beaton<\/strong>
\nGeorgia Sitwell, Renishaw<\/em>
\n1930
\n\u00a9 Cecil Beaton Archive, Sotheby\u2019s<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Georgia Doble<\/strong>, the Canadian-born wife of Sacheverell Sitwell, was born in 1906 to a banker of Cornish descent. She met Sitwell at a party in 1924 while participating in the social gaiety of the London season. Georgia was familiar with Sitwell\u2019s\u00a0Southern Baroque Art<\/em>\u00a0and enjoyed his company, but she waited almost a year before accepting his marriage proposals. They were married in Paris on October 12, 1925. Their first son, Reresby, was born in 1927 and his younger brother, Francis, in 1935.<\/p>\n

Georgia found it difficult to blend in with the Sitwell family, which had more than the usual share of dynamics. She did her best to play the self-assigned role of muse, but Sitwell was not a social man and Georgia missed the busy whirl of London. She attended many social events without him, which led to a great deal of friction between them. They both had affairs over the years, but remained deeply attached to one another throughout their lives. Georgia died in 1980.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Cecil<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Cecil Beaton<\/strong>
\nLady Plunket (Doroth\u00e9) and Mr Maurice<\/em>
\n1937
\n\u00a9 Cecil Beaton Archive, Sotheby\u2019s<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Cecil<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Cecil Beaton<\/strong>
\nStephen Tennant (1906-1987), William Walton (1902-1983), Georgia Sitwell (1905-1980), Zita Jungman (1903-2006), Rex Whistler (1905-1944) and Cecil Beaton (1904-1980), Wilsford, 1927<\/em>
\n1927
\n\u00a9 Cecil Beaton Archive, Sotheby\u2019s<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Stephen James Napier Tennant<\/b>\u00a0(21 April 1906 \u2013 28 February 1987) was a British aristocrat known for his\u00a0decadent\u00a0lifestyle.\u00a0During the 20s and 30s, Tennant was an important member \u2013 the \u201cBrightest\u201d, it is said \u2013 of the \u201cBright Young People.\u201d His friends included\u00a0Rex Whistler,\u00a0Cecil Beaton,\u00a0the Sitwells,\u00a0Lady Diana Manners\u00a0and\u00a0the Mitford girls. He is widely considered to be the model for Cedric Hampton in\u00a0Nancy Mitford\u2019s\u00a0novel\u00a0Love in a Cold Climate<\/i>; one of the inspirations for Lord\u00a0Sebastian Flyte\u00a0in\u00a0Evelyn Waugh\u2019s\u00a0Brideshead Revisited<\/i>, and a model for Hon. Miles Malpractice in some of his other novels.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sir William Turner Walton<\/b>\u00a0OM\u00a0(29 March 1902 \u2013 8 March 1983) was an English composer. During a sixty-year career, he wrote music in several classical genres and styles, from film scores to opera. His best-known works include\u00a0Fa\u00e7ade<\/i>, the\u00a0cantata\u00a0Belshazzar\u2019s Feast<\/i>, the\u00a0Viola Concerto, and the\u00a0First Symphony.<\/span><\/p>\n

Zita Jungman<\/strong>\u2018s accounts of her fellow bright young things of the 1920s stress their high vocal pitch and decibel level \u2013 \u201cshrieking\u201d, \u201cscreaming\u201d, \u201chowling with laughter\u201d. So it is significant that when, in 1926, Cecil Beaton met Zita, who has died aged 102, in the Gargoyle Club, Soho, he responded to her quietness and understanding. She was, he wrote, a \u201cthoroughly unflashy\u201d original\u2026\u00a0The antics of the bright young things were relatively innocent: bottle parties, fancy dress balls and pageants, with cocktails and fast cars. The Jungman girls, along with clever Alannah Harper, Eleanor Smith and Loelia Ponsonby, staged treasure hunts, using their connections to arrange a fake edition of the Evening Standard or Hovis loaves baked to order with clues inside.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Enter aspirant photographer Beaton. He had spotted the sisters at a performance of Edith Sitwell\u2019s\u00a0Facade,<\/em>\u00a0and met Zita again in Venice rehearsing for a ball. Alannah Harper modelled for him; Zita followed. He was financially thrilled. \u201cThey certainly would get into the papers \u2026 so very saleable.\u201d She spent hours before the lens in the Beaton house: \u201cShe loved doing her hair in various exotic ways and looked quite beautiful and quite extraordinarily funny. She is a perfect young lady.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beaton described the sisters as \u201ca pair of decadent 18th-century angels made of wax\u201d and wrote of Zita: \u201cWith her smooth fringes, and rather flat head, like a silky coconut, like a medieval page, and with her swinging gait, she looks very gallant, very princely. But she can, if she wishes, easily become a snake-like beauty, with a mysterious smile and a cold glint in her upward slanting eyes.\u201d Her reaction to the pictures was to \u201clay back in a chair looking at them for ages, never speaking, just occasionally grunting a grunt of satisfaction\u201d.<\/p>\n

Text by\u00a0Veronica Horwell in\u00a0The Guardian<\/a>,<\/em>\u00a0Friday 3 March 2006<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Cecil<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Cecil Beaton<\/strong>
\nRex Whistler<\/em>
\n1927
\n\u00a9 Cecil Beaton Archive, Sotheby\u2019s<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Reginald John \u201cRex\u201d Whistler<\/b>\u00a0(24 June 1905 \u2013 18 July 1944) was a British\u00a0artist, designer and illustrator.<\/span><\/p>\n

Reginald John Whistler was born in Britain on 24 June 1905, at\u00a0Eltham,\u00a0Kent, the son of Harry and Helen Frances Mary Whistler. In May 1919 he was sent to boarding school at\u00a0Haileybury, where he showed a precocious talent for art, providing set designs for play productions and giving away sketches to prefects in lieu of \u201cdates\u201d (a punishment at Haileybury, similar to\u00a0\u201clines\u201d\u00a0whereby offenders are required to write out set lists of historical dates).<\/p>\n

After Haileybury the young Whistler was accepted at the\u00a0Royal Academy, but disliked the regime there and was \u201csacked for incompetence\u201d. He then proceeded to study at the\u00a0Slade School of Art, where he metStephen Tennant, soon to become one of his best friends and a model for some of the figures in his works. Through Tennant, he later met the poet\u00a0Siegfried Sassoon\u00a0and his wife Hester, to both of whom Whistler became close.<\/p>\n

Upon leaving the Slade he burst into a dazzling career as a professional artist. His work encompassed all areas of art and design \u2013 from the\u00a0West End theatre\u00a0to book illustration (including works by\u00a0Evelyn Waugh\u00a0and\u00a0Walter de la Mare, and perhaps most notably, for\u00a0Gulliver\u2019s Travels<\/i>) and\u00a0mural\u00a0and\u00a0trompe-l\u2019oeil\u00a0painting. Paintings at\u00a0Port Lympne Mansion\u00a0(within\u00a0Port Lympne Wild Animal Park),\u00a0Plas Newydd,\u00a0Mottisfont Abbey\u00a0and\u00a0Dorneywood\u00a0among others, show his outstanding talent in this genre. During his time at Plas Newydd he may well have become the lover of the daughter of the\u00a06th Marquess of Anglesey, the owner of the house, who had commissioned him to undertake the decorative scheme. Whistler and\u00a0Lady Caroline Paget\u00a0are known to have become very close friends and he painted numerous portraits of her, including a startling nude. Whether this painting was actually posed for or whether it was how Whistler imagined her naked is a matter of debate.<\/p>\n

His most noted work during the early part of his career was for the caf\u00e9 at the\u00a0Tate Gallery,\u00a0completed in 1927 when he was only 22. He was commissioned to produce posters and illustrations for\u00a0Shell Petroleum\u00a0and the\u00a0Radio Times<\/i>. He also created designs for\u00a0Wedgwood\u00a0china based on drawings he made of the\u00a0Devon\u00a0village of\u00a0Clovelly. Whistler\u2019s elegance and wit ensured his success as a portrait artist among the fashionable; he painted many members of London society, including\u00a0Edith Sitwell,Cecil Beaton\u00a0and other members of the set to which he belonged that became known as the \u201cBright Young Things\u201d.\u00a0<\/span>His murals for\u00a0Edwina Mountbatten\u2019s 30-room luxury flat in Brook House,\u00a0Park Lane, London\u00a0were later installed by the Mountbattens\u2019 son-in-law, decorator\u00a0David Hicks, in his own houses.<\/p>\n

Whistler\u2019s activities also extended to ballet design. He designed the scenery and costumes for\u00a0Ninette de Valois\u00a0and\u00a0Gavin Gordon\u2019s\u00a0Hogarth-inspired 1935 ballet\u00a0The Rake\u2019s Progress<\/i>.<\/p>\n

When war broke out, although he was 35, Whistler was eager to join the army. He was commissioned into the\u00a0Welsh Guards\u00a0as Lieutenant 131651. His artistic talent, far from being a stumbling block to his military career, was greatly appreciated and he was able to find time to continue some of his work, including a notable self-portrait in uniform now in the\u00a0National Army Museum. In 1944 he was sent to France following the\u00a0D-Day landings.<\/p>\n

In July he was with the Guards Armoured Division in\u00a0Normandy\u00a0as the invasion force was poised to break out of the salient east of\u00a0Caen. On the hot and stuffy 18 July his tank, after crossing a railway line, drove over some felled telegraph wires beside the railway, which became entangled in its tracks. He and the crew got out to free the tank from the wire when a German machine gunner opened fire on them, preventing them from getting back into their tank. Whistler dashed across an open space of 60 yards to another tank to instruct its commander, a Sergeant Lewis Sherlock, to return the fire. As he climbed down from Sherlock\u2019s tank a mortar bomb exploded beside him and killed him instantly, throwing him into the air. He was the first fatality suffered by the battalion in the Normandy campaign.<\/span><\/p>\n

Text from the\u00a0Wikipedia<\/em>\u00a0website<\/p>\n

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\"Palladian<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Palladian Bridge at Wilton House<\/em>
\n\u00a9 Wilton House Trust<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cSotheby\u2019s and Wilton House will pay tribute to the life and work of the photographer, writer and Oscar-winning designer Cecil Beaton (1904-1980) with a new exhibition of photographs from Sotheby\u2019s Cecil Beaton Studio Archive, designed and curated by Jasper Conran. Capturing the spirit of country house parties and costume balls, the exhibition will showcase previously unseen images from one of Britain\u2019s most celebrated photographers, giving a fascinating glimpse into his life and a vivid portrait of a charmed age.<\/p>\n

Staged at Wilton House in Wiltshire where Beaton was entertained by his friends the Pembroke family at grand parties and pageants for over 50 years, the exhibition will run between 18th- 21st April and 3rd May \u2013 14th September 2014.<\/p>\n

Described as \u201ca worldly Peter Pan\u201d\u00a0<\/i>who never aged1, Cecil Beaton \u2013 the acclaimed photographer for\u00a0Vogue\u00a0<\/i>andVanity Fair\u00a0<\/i>– was at the forefront of the fashion for costume and pageantry which swept through British society in the 1920s. Immortalised in the No\u00ebl Coward song \u2018I\u2019ve been to a marvellous party\u2019, \u201cDear Cecil arrived wearing armour\/Some shells and a black feather boa\u2026<\/i>,\u201d Beaton was renowned for his flair for fancy dress and costumery, later winning Oscars, Academy and Tony awards for his designs. He invited friends from all over the world to legendary parties at his Wiltshire home Ashcombe, where guests arrived \u201cin the knowledge that they were to exchange reality for a complete escape into the realms of fantasy.\u201d<\/i>2<\/p>\n

As fancy dress became a popular feature of country house parties, and costume balls a highlight of the social calendar, Beaton seamlessly integrated his high-society personal life with his professional artistic quest to experiment with photography and fashion. Using the settings of Britain\u2019s grandest country houses as the perfect backdrop, Beaton persuaded his friends to sit for him in their exotic costumes, often designed by him, for these most unconventional of photographs.<\/p>\n

This fascinating collection of photographs will be displayed in a new exhibition space, especially renovated for the event at Wilton House. Situated just a few miles from Beaton\u2019s country houses Ashcombe and Reddish, Wilton was the location for costume balls and theatrical events enjoyed and photographed by Beaton for over 50 years. Despite being pushed into a river at the first Ball he attended there in 1927, Beaton later became great friends with the Earls of Pembroke. Over time he photographed and chronicled the lives of three generations of the family in the surroundings of the house which he described as \u201cperhaps the most wonderful piece in all Wiltshire\u2019s heritage of domestic architecture\u2026 at every time of year, in all weathers, unfailing in its beauty.\u201d<\/i>3 On 14th January 1980, just three days before his death, Beaton celebrated his 76th birthday with a lunch party hosted by the family.<\/p>\n

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The Cecil Beaton Studio Archive\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Sotheby\u2019s is the privileged guardian of the Cecil Beaton Studio Archive, a matchless repository of over 100,000 negatives, 9,000 vintage prints and 42 scrapbooks from the celebrated photographer\u2019s personal collection. Cecil Beaton negotiated the transfer of his private archive to Sotheby\u2019s in 1977 in order to preserve its role for future generations. Today, the collection \u2013 some of which is still stored in Beaton\u2019s original filing cabinets \u2013 is available for use as a picture library, lending images to be reproduced on the printed page and for exhibition worldwide.<\/p>\n

Further photographs from the Cecil Beaton Studio Archive will be displayed at Salisbury Museum\u2019s exhibitionCecil Beaton at Home: Ashcombe & Reddish<\/em>\u00a0between 23rd May \u2013 19th September 2014. This exhibition will bring together original photographs, artworks and possessions from Cecil Beaton\u2019s two Wiltshire homes, Ashcombe and Reddish which served as retreats, inspirations, and stages for impressive entertaining, to present a fascinating picture of Beaton\u2019s extraordinary life.\u201d<\/p>\n

1 Hugo Vickers,\u00a0Cecil Beaton: The Authorised Biography<\/i>, Introduction, p. xxiii
\n2 Cecil Beaton,\u00a0Ashcombe: The Story of a Fifteen-year Lease<\/i>, p. 33
\n3 Cecil Beaton,\u00a0Ashcombe: The Story of a Fifteen-year Lease,\u00a0<\/i>p. 35<\/p>\n

Press release from Sotheby\u2019s<\/p>\n

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\"Cecil<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Cecil Beaton<\/strong>
\nCecil Beaton on the Palladian bridge at Wilton House, September 1968<\/em>\u00a0(detail)
\n1968
\n\u00a9 Cecil Beaton Archive, Sotheby\u2019s<\/p>\n

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\"Cecil<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Cecil Beaton<\/strong>
\nAlice von Hofmannsthal, Ashcombe, 1937, in her Costume for \u201cThe Gardener\u2019s Daughter\u201d for \u201cThe Anti Dud Ball\u201d at the Dorchester Hotel, 13 July 1937<\/em>
\n1937
\n\u00a9 Cecil Beaton Archive, Sotheby\u2019s<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Cecil<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Cecil Beaton<\/strong>
\nPrincess Natasha Paley<\/em>
\n1930s
\n\u00a9 Cecil Beaton Archive, Sotheby\u2019s<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Princess Natalia Pavlovna Paley<\/b>\u00a0(??????? ???????? ?????), Countess de Hohenfelsen (December 5, 1905 \u2013 December 27, 1981) was a member of the\u00a0Romanov family. A daughter of\u00a0Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich of Russia, she was a first cousin of the last Russian emperor,\u00a0Nicholas II. After the Russian revolution she emigrated first to\u00a0France\u00a0and later to the\u00a0United States. She became a fashion model, socialite, vendeuse, and briefly pursued a career as a film actress\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

Ethereal and glamorous, Princess Natalia would not follow any fashion trend, but would dictate her own. Hats and gloves were her signature. With deep-set gray eyes and pale blond hair, she became a sought after model establishing an image for herself in the Parisian elite becoming a well known socialite. As a model, she appeared in many magazines including\u00a0Vogue<\/i>. She was a favorite model for the great photographers of her time:\u00a0Edward Steichen,\u00a0Cecil Beaton,\u00a0Horst P. Horst, Andre Durst and\u00a0George Hoyningen-Huene. (Text fromWikipedia<\/em>\u00a0website)<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Cecil<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Cecil Beaton<\/strong>
\nThe Countess of Pembroke acting in Beaton\u2019s musical \u201cHeil Cinderella\u201d<\/em>
\n1939
\n\u00a9 Cecil Beaton Archive, Sotheby\u2019s<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Cecil<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Cecil Beaton<\/strong>
\nThe 15th Earl and Countess of Pembroke dressed for the coronation of George VI<\/em>
\n1937
\n\u00a9 Cecil Beaton Archive, Sotheby\u2019s<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Cecil<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Cecil Beaton<\/strong>
\nThe Countess of Pembroke in her Robes for the Coronation of George VI<\/em>
\n1937
\n\u00a9 Cecil Beaton Archive, Sotheby\u2019s<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Cecil<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Cecil Beaton<\/strong>
\nCecil Beaton in \u201cAll the Vogue\u201d, Cambridge<\/em>
\n1925
\n\u00a9 Cecil Beaton Archive, Sotheby\u2019s<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Beauty, decadence and a damned good party:\u00a0Cecil Beaton at Salisbury Museum<\/h4>\n

The not so private world of Cecil Beaton \u2013 photographer to the Royals, painter, designer of interiors, stage and costume and secret diarist \u2013 seems to have been as opulent as his professional career was varied.\u00a0If we are to believe his candid diaries, it was a world of decadent parties and languid weekend soirees full of bright young things who caroused at his Wiltshire homes against a backdrop of sumptuous interiors and fabulous gardens.<\/span><\/p>\n

The first of these private pleasure houses was Ashcombe, which he rented for \u00a350 a year between 1930-45. It was followed by Reddish, which Beaton purchased in 1945 and lived in until his death in 1980.\u00a0By all accounts both were splendid residences, and the stream of celebrities and society people who came and went were photographed by Beaton or captured in his notoriously frank scrapbooks and diaries.<\/p>\n

And it is these extravagant worlds that can be glimpsed at Salisbury Museum who, with the help of the vast Cecil Beaton Archive at Sotheby\u2019s, are teasing them back to life.\u00a0A tantalising glimpse into the photographer\u2019s more hidden moments and the celebrity in-crowd of friends and acquaintances he lavishly entertained, the exhibition brings together 183 unique photographs (including 35 vintage prints) exhibited with some of his artworks and personal possessions within recreations of the interiors.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s the cast of players that grabs the attention; bohemian aristocrats, socialites and some of the biggest stars of the stage, screen, fashion and art world form a procession of decadence that stretched across five decades from 1930-1980.\u00a0Famous faces include Truman Capote, Leslie Caron, David Hockney, Bianca Jagger and Ivor Novello interspersed here with private snaps of his great loves \u2013 the Hollywood icon Greta Garbo, with whom he had an affair, and millionaire art collector Peter Watson, with whom (we are told) he didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

But as well as the society faces the exhibition includes images of the photographer\u2019s inspired garden designs at Reddish and his theatrically-styled home interiors at Ashcombe, which he created so he could \u2018live in scenery\u2019, inspired by his visit to Hollywood in 1929.\u00a0Work in progress shots show the making of Beaton\u2019s fantastical \u2018Circus Bedroom\u2019 in 1932 with freshly painted murals of a circus clown, a girl on a merry-go-round horse and a jolly fat lady.<\/p>\n

The bedroom was apparently created \u201con a rainy weekend in 1932? by a typically decadent gang of dazzling society types that included artists Rex Whistler, \u2018Jack\u2019 von Bismarck, Oliver Messel, Lord Berners, Edith Olivier, Jorg von Reppert Bismarck and of course Beaton himself.\u00a0Whistler also designed Beaton\u2019s theatrical four-poster \u2018carousel\u2019 bed with gilded unicorns, stripey circus-top canopy and barley twist bedposts.\u00a0Beaton is pictured with Watson amidst this baroque creation. And visitors can experience it for themselves courtesy of a full-scale recreation reconstructed for the very first time since it was broken up in 1945. A fascinating glance into a decadent disappeared world.<\/p>\n

Text by\u00a0Richard Moss on the\u00a0Culture 24\u00a0<\/em><\/a>website<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Rex<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Rex Whistler<\/strong>
\nAshcombe House<\/em>
\n1930s
\n\u00a9 Private Collection<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Cecil<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Cecil Beaton<\/strong>
\nFrontispiece montage for Cecil Beaton\u2019s Scrapbook, 1937, Ashcombe
\n<\/em>1937
\n\u00a9 Private Collection<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Cecil<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Cecil Beaton<\/strong>
\nCecil Beaton on the front steps of Reddish House, Broad Chalke, June 1947, Reddish
\n<\/em>1947
\n\u00a9 Cecil Beaton Archive, Sotheby\u2019s<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Cecil<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Cecil Beaton<\/strong>
\nCecil Beaton in his first costume of the night (the famous \u2018Rabbit\u2019 outfit) for the Fete Champetre, in his Circus bedroom, 10 July 1937, Ashcombe
\n<\/em>1937
\n\u00a9 Getty Images\/ Time Life<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Cecil<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Cecil Beaton<\/strong>
\nDorian Leigh photographed for \u2018Modess\u2026 because\u2019 campaign, Reddish House, Broad Chalke, 1950s, Reddish
\n<\/em>1950s
\n\u00a9 Johnson & Johnson<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Dorian Leigh<\/b>\u00a0(April 23, 1917 \u2013 July 7, 2008), born\u00a0Dorian Elizabeth Leigh Parker<\/b>, was an American\u00a0model\u00a0and one of the earliest modelling icons of the fashion industry.\u00a0<\/span>She is considered one of the firstsupermodels\u00a0and was well known in the United States and Europe.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Henry<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Henry Lamb<\/strong>
\nPortrait of Cecil Beaton<\/em>
\n1935
\n\u00a9 Private Collection<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Henry Taylor Lamb<\/b>\u00a0MC\u00a0RA\u00a0(Adelaide\u00a021 June 1883 \u2013 8 October 1960\u00a0Salisbury) was an Australian-born British painter. A follower of\u00a0Augustus John, Lamb was a founder member of the\u00a0Camden Town Groupin 1911 and of the\u00a0London Group\u00a0in 1913.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lamb is noted for his unusual portraits, as exemplified by his well-known picture of an elongated\u00a0Lytton Strachey.\u00a0<\/span>He was elected an Associate of the\u00a0Royal Academy\u00a0in 1940 and was made a full Member in 1949. He was a Trustee of the\u00a0National Portrait Gallery\u00a0from 1942 and of the\u00a0Tate Gallery\u00a0from 1944 to 1951.\u00a0<\/span>His auction record was set at Christie\u2019s in London in June 2006 when his 1910\u00a0Breton Boy<\/i>\u00a0oil on panel fetched \u00a360,000.\u00a0<\/span>As well as the Imperial War Museum, works by Lamb are held in regional museums throughout Britain, in the British Government Art Collection\u00a0<\/span>and in the\u00a0National Gallery of Canada, which received the majority of Lambs portraits of Canadian troops at the end of World War Two.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

exhibition: \u2018cecil beaton at wilton\u2019 at wilton house, wiltshire and \u2018cecil beaton at home: ashcombe & reddish\u2019, at the salisbury\u00a0museum By\u00a0Dr Marcus Bunyan\u00a0Leave a\u00a0Comment Categories:\u00a0beauty,\u00a0black and white photography,\u00a0Cecil Beaton,\u00a0colour photography,\u00a0designer,\u00a0documentary photography,\u00a0English artist,exhibition,\u00a0existence,\u00a0fashion photography,\u00a0gallery website,\u00a0intimacy,\u00a0landscape,\u00a0light,\u00a0London,\u00a0photographic series,\u00a0photography,\u00a0portrait,\u00a0space,time\u00a0and\u00a0works on paper Tags:\u00a0Alice von Hofmannsthal,\u00a0All the Vogue,\u00a0Ashcombe & Reddish,\u00a0Ashcombe House,\u00a0Bright Young People,\u00a0Cecil Beaton,\u00a0Cecil Beaton Alice von Hofmannsthal,\u00a0Cecil Beaton at Home: … Continue reading CECIL BEATON EXHIBIT<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2124],"tags":[2685,2477],"class_list":["post-8966","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cecil-beaton","tag-cecil-beaton","tag-photography"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stephenlirakis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8966","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stephenlirakis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stephenlirakis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stephenlirakis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stephenlirakis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8966"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stephenlirakis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8966\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8967,"href":"https:\/\/stephenlirakis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8966\/revisions\/8967"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stephenlirakis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8966"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stephenlirakis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8966"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stephenlirakis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8966"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}