Exploring Cecil Beaton’s Photography and Design

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Cecil Beaton in a civilian suit holding his Rolleiflex camera, reflected in a mirror of the Jain temple in Calcutta, India.
Cecil Beaton, dressed in a civilian suit, captures his own reflection with a Rolleiflex camera in an ornate mirror at the Jain temple, Calcutta, India.

Cecil Beaton (1904 – 1980) was a British Photographer, interior designer and stage designer.

The house he occupied until 1945 at Ashcombe, Wiltshire, near friend Edith Olivier, was decorated with limited funds using exaggerated baroque furniture. The ‘Circus Bedroom’ walls were painted by visiting artist friends, including Rex Whistler and Oliver Messel, in a kind of Surrealistic overstatement. Cecil Beaton enjoyed their artistic companionship.

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He published The Book of Beauty (1930) and Memoirs in a Scrapbook (1937). During the 1930s, he worked for Conde Nast, publishers of Vogue and Vanity Fair.

During World War 2, Cecil Beaton was a war photographer for the British Ministry of Information. He worked in Africa and India.

In his later years, Beaton rented a suite at the St Regis Hotel, New York, for a short time each year. He decorated it, and Vogue published the results. He designed the sets and costumes for Gigi (1959) and My Fair Lady (1965), winning Academy awards. Active as a set designer, Martin Battersby and others assisted Cecil Beaton from the late 1940s.

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Recognition

Cecil Beaton was highly honoured. He was appointed a Commander of the British Empire in 1957. He received the Légion d’Honneur in 1960 for his contributions.

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