Margins
Portraits book cover
Portraits
2004
First Published
4.13
Average Rating
240
Number of Pages

An exquisite book that celebrates the masterful and evocative portraits created by one of the world’s most famous twentieth-century photographers Sir Cecil Beaton (1904–1980) was one of the most renowned photographers of his generation. A major contributor to Vogue and Vanity Fair in Britain, France, and America, Beaton captured for posterity such admired subjects as artists Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí, Andy Warhol, and Richard Avedon; actresses Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn, and Greta Garbo; statesmen and politicians Winston Churchill and Robert Kennedy; and, of course, Britain’s Royal Family. This sumptuously illustrated book—published on the centenary of Beaton’s birth—brings together many of his evocative portraits in celebration of his remarkable life and work. Gifted in an extraordinary range of fields, Beaton was noted for his flamboyant sense of style. His portraits, fashion photographs, book jacket designs, war reportage, designs for theater and film, and diaries mark him as one of the first international multi-media artists. This book features an illustrated essay discussing the wide range of the photographer’s career as well as a portfolio of 160 beautiful reproductions of his most famous portraits and an extended illustrated chronology. Portraits is an exciting and comprehensive look at a tour-de-force photographer and is an essential book for anyone interested in photography, fashion, or twentieth-century style and design.

Avg Rating
4.13
Number of Ratings
38
5 STARS
39%
4 STARS
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3 STARS
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2 STARS
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1 STARS
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Author

Cecil Beaton
Cecil Beaton
Author · 16 books
Born in London in 1904, Cecil Beaton's first photographs were of his sisters styled in theatrical decadent costumes. His unique flair for elegance and fantasy lead him to become one of the most successful and influential portrait and fashion photographers of the 20th century. Baron Adolf de Meyer and Edward Steichen were sources of inspiration for him, but he developed a style all his own. He worked for Vogue for over twenty-five years and also became official court photographer to the Royal family in 1937. A constant innovator, Beaton worked for five decades photographing some of the most captivating figures of his time, from Edith Sitwell to the Rolling Stones, Greta Garbo, Jean Cocteau, and Marilyn Monroe. Beaton died in 1980 at the age of 76.
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