Cecil Beaton developed a distinctive style of photography where the subject was immersed in backgrounds made of unusual materials such as paper-mâché or aluminum foil. A socialite who rubbed elbows with royalty, celebrities and the wealthy aristocracy, the British photographer captured some of the most famous names of his time.
Beaton was born in London in 1904 to a successful lumber merchant and amateur actor. He received his first camera as a gift at age 11. Beaton later attended St. John’s College in Cambridge and studied art, history and architecture. He dropped out in 1925 and went to work in the family lumber business, but his free time was spent absorbed in photography.
Beaton befriended Sir Osbert Sitwell, who was captivated by his photographs and funded his first exhibition. It was an immediate sensation, leading to work with major magazines.
With a photography contract from Condé Nast, Beaton left for New York. By the end of the 1920s, he had worked as a staff photographer for Vanity Fair and Vogue. He continued to cultivate his unique portraiture style and published his work in several books. One of his greatest achievements was a commission from the British Royal Family in 1939, a relationship which endured for decades. During World War II, he served as a wartime photographer in Africa and East Asia.
After the war, Beaton returned to private portrait commissions. He also began designing costumes and sets for theater and the silver screen, winning an Academy Award for Best Costume Design for Gigi and awards for costume design and art direction for My Fair Lady. He also won costume design Tony awards for the Broadway shows Quadrille, My Fair Lady, Saratoga and Coco.
Beaton designed the sets and costumes for a production of the opera Turandot at the Metropolitan Opera in New York and then at Covent Garden, London. His diaries, which were scrapbooks of his life and interests, have garnered wide interest, and several volumes of them have been published.
On 1stDibs, find Cecil Beaton’s photography, drawings and watercolors, paintings and more.
"Cecil Beaton's Scrapbook" 1937 BEATON, Cecil
By Cecil Beaton
Located in Bristol, CT
BEATON, Cecil [136] pp. Charles Scribner's Sons 1937 11 1/2" x 9 1/4" w/ floral rose bud Sanderson wallpaper boards & endpapers On the shelves at Ashcombe, I have now over fift...
Paper
"Fashion Eye: Venice Cecil Beaton" 2021 BEATON, Cecil
By Cecil Beaton
Located in Bristol, CT
BEATON, Cecil Edited by Pierre Bessard [124] pp. Louis Vuitton Malletier 2021 12 1/2" x 9 1/2" Photographs by Cecil Beaton. Edited by Patrick Remy. Essay by Philippe Garner. Foreword by Countess Cristiana Brandolini d'Adda. Louis Vuitton Malletier. Paris. 2021. First edition. Hardback; pink cloth-bound boards, with title debossed in blue and images pasted to front and rear boards. [c.120 pages + 28 page facsimile booklet bound in centre.] Illustrated throughout in b&w and colour. French & English. 315 x 245mm. 0.85kg. 9782369832263. Fine; as new. A scrapbook-style album of Cecil Beaton's photographs of Venice...
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"Cecil Beaton's Scrapbook" 1937 BEATON, Cecil
By Cecil Beaton
Located in Bristol, CT
BEATON, Cecil [135] pp. Charles Scribner's Sons 1937 11 1/2" x 9 1/4" w/ floral rose bud Sanderson wallpaper boards & endpapers On the shelves at Ashcombe, I have now over fift...
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"The Book Of Beauty" 1930 BEATON, Cecil
By Cecil Beaton
Located in Bristol, CT
BEATON, Cecil [67] pp. Duckworth 1930 11 1/8" x 9" Exceedingly rare with the jacket Illustrated with a coloured frontispiece from the author's drawing of Queen Alexandra, 27 collotype reproductions of his photographs, and 100 line drawings in the text. I have tried to make my book an analysis of modern beauty, a collection of the loveliest ladies I have ever seen, and, in time, it may become a sentimental document for our granchildren, to marvel at all the types of beauty to-day; the latest varieties of Venus as well as the counterparts of former belles. The Book of Beauty is Cecil Beaton's first book. It is an unashamed paean to the beauty of the women who inhabit his world. The book is inspired by books of beauty published in the Victorian period and by his childhood fascination with the theatricality and glamour of the opposite sex. Photographs of women are accompanied by flowery descriptions. Sitters include Baba and Nancy Beaton, Edith Sitwell, Tallulah Bankhead, Tilly Losch...
Paper
The Book Of Beauty
By Cecil Beaton
Located in Bristol, CT
BEATON, Cecil [67] pp. Duckworth Press 1930 11 1/4 x 9" Amazing/ unique copy hand-painted by Cecil Beaton himself w/ his signature 'rose buds' over the polka dot boards 'I have...
Paper
"Cecil Beaton's Scrapbook" 1937 BEATON, Cecil
By Cecil Beaton
Located in Bristol, CT
BEATON, Cecil [136] pp. Charles Scribner's Sons 1937 11 1/2" x 9 1/2" On the shelves at Ashcombe, I have now over fifty diaries & scrapbooks, memorials of many violated magazine...
Paper
$1,138
H 33.8 in W 28 in
German Female Artist, Study or Portrait of a Girl, Expressionism, Realism
Located in Greven, DE
Helene Rutkowski is an artist who was born in 1862. The maker's first piece to be offered at auction was "Baumbestandene Allee im Herbst" at Quentin Auction House in 2021. She worked in the style of Realism and Expressionism and her works remind one of Käthe Kollwitz. This beautiful drawing...
Charcoal, Handmade Paper
$5,800
H 51 in W 44.5 in D 2 in
Robert Rauschenberg "Broken Harp" Pencil Signed Lithograph 24/500 executed 1989
By Robert Rauschenberg
Located in Dallas, TX
Signed and numbered lithograph on woven paper designed by Robert Rauschenberg titled "Broken Harp". An early edition, number 24 of only 500 prints ever made. Executed on woven paper ...
Paper
Giardino di Rose
By Justas Varpucanskis
Located in Mokena, IL
Giardino di Rose, 2022 Ink on Toned Paper with Frame, 12.25 x 15.25 inches Transporting the viewer to Florence’s sun-lit rose garden, Justas Varpucanskis...
Ink, Handmade Paper
$1,665
H 18.75 in W 16.75 in D 2 in
Two of the Hand Colored Botanist Repository Series 1797 Andrews, Henry, British
Located in Stamford, CT
Andrews, Henry (British) two of the hand colored Botanist Repository series 1797. This artwork is presented in roped and gilded frames by Judy Cormier. The Botanist's Repository was...
Paper
English Modern Geometric Collage Purple, Gold, and Beige
Located in Houston, TX
Abstract modern collage of long geometric shapes in blue, brown, and beige, by artist Spe, 2000's . Signed. Displayed in a white mat with a gold border and fits a standard-size frame...
Paper
English Modern Geometric Collage Blues, Greens, and Yellows
Located in Houston, TX
Abstract modern collage of geometric shapes in blues, greens, and yellows, by artist Spe, 2000's. Signed. Displayed in a white mat with a gold border and fits a standard-size frame. ...
Paper
Iroha, 2 calligraphy screens (#004776)
Located in Frankfurt am Main, DE
Iroha Two six-panel folding screens (byôbu), featuring the famous Iroha poem by Kûkai (Kôbô Daishi, 774–835) written in the cursive Sôsho style. Inscribed/signed: Shôbô fude-ryû ri...
Paper, Ink
$971
H 8.67 in W 12.6 in D 0.4 in
Abstract Organic Night Landscape in Handmade Paper, Black Earth Tones Relief
By Silvana Ilieva
Located in Sofia, BG
Abstract Organic Night Landscape in Handmade Paper, Black Earth Tones Relief. This unique wall piece is part of a series of abstract collages created during an artist residency in Le...
Organic Material, Charcoal, Handmade Paper
Art Nouveau Style Print Elegant Woman in the Forest
Located in Stamford, CT
Art Nouveau "Elegant Woman in the Forest", Print by Bernard Picture Company. In the manner of Alphonse Maria Mucha. Height: 32 inches, Width: 18.75 inches, Depth: 1.25 inches
Paper
$8,000
H 75.38 in W 48.25 in D 2 in
Gene Davis Signed and Numbered Limited Edition Black Witch Series Serigraph 1974
By Gene Davis
Located in Dallas, TX
Large scale serigraph by Gene Davis 'Black Witch Series' on archival paper signed and numbered in pencil, 24 of 150. Executed in 1974, 72" x 45" in the original frame with plexiglass...
Paper
$1,920
H 10.63 in W 15.75 in D 0.4 in
“Deer Kingdom” abstract mountain landscape, handmade paper wall art
By Silvana Ilieva
Located in Sofia, BG
“Deer Kingdom” is an original contemporary artwork by Silvana Ilieva, created during an artist residency in the Rhodope Mountains, Bulgaria. The work is made entirely from handmade p...
Organic Material, Handmade Paper, Mica
$2,200
H 39.25 in W 28.25 in
Aspiration - screenprint on paper by British artist Wayne Warren
By Wayne Warren
Located in Indianapolis, IN
Wayne Warren (1940) Aspiration (2013) Screenprint on paper Size: 39.25 x 28.25 in (99.7 x 71.8 cm) From the edition of 26, this is 11/26 Hand signed lower right, numbered lower left...
Screen, Paper
Signed artist catalog with a drawing
By Keith Haring
Located in Jerusalem, IL
A wonderful drawing by Keith Haring on the first page of a catalog of his artworks exhibition. printed by Tony Shafrazi Gallery, New York, 1982 Signed lower right. Hand signed Marker...
Magazine Paper, Permanent Marker
The Mirror
By Judy Pfaff
Located in Indianapolis, IN
Judy Pfaff (1946) The Mirror (1998) Etching and encaustic on Crown Kozo Size: 71.75 x 31.75 in (182.2 x 80.6 cm) Frame size: 77.75 x 37.75 in (197.5 x 95.8 cm) Edition of 30 Hand si...
Paper, Encaustic, Etching
$600
H 33 in W 23.25 in
"International Exhibition: Painting, Sculpture, Graphic Arts, Objects"
By Richard Artschwager
Located in New York, NY
Richard Artschwager "International Exhibition: Painting, Sculpture, Graphic Arts, Objects" 4 documenta, Kasel, Germany, 1968 Exhibition Poster (Set of 3) 33 x 23 1/4 inches Unsigned
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