First exhibition in Russia dedicated to Cecil Beaton opens at the State Hermitage Museum

The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Thursday, March 28, 2024


First exhibition in Russia dedicated to Cecil Beaton opens at the State Hermitage Museum
Nancy Beaton as fallen star, 1929 © Conde Nast.



ST. PETERSBURG.- The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, is presenting 'Cecil Beaton: Celebrating Celebrity', the first exhibition in Russia dedicated to one of the greatest master-photographers of the 20th century. The exhibition is organised by the State Hermitage Museum in collaboration with Cecil Beaton’s Studio Archive and the Hermitage Foundation UK.

Presenting approximately one hundred images from throughout Cecil Beaton's career, the exhibition will feature some of his most celebrated works while also exploring his creative methods through a selection of rare and previously unseen photographs, including archival prints, contact sheets and scrapbooks.

Cecil Beaton’s (1904 – 1980) career spanned five decades, starting with his friendship with the ‘bright young things’ of the 1920s, moving on to serious images of fashion, theatre, ballet and the social scene in the 1930s. He became a war artist in the 1940s and from the 1950s his career was crowned as he became the official photographer to the royal family of the United Kingdom. Core to the exhibition's concept is the interweaving history of photography and celebrity culture, seen through Beaton’s professional biography. He was born into a middle-class family; being a ‘total self-creation’, as his friend Truman Capote once described him, he elevated to the upper echelons of British society with the help of his photographic talent and personal charm. Starting by photographing his own friends 'dressed up', he moved on to work for 'Vogue' and 'Vanity Fair', capturing portraits of Hollywood stars and of royalty and being welcomed in some of the most aristocratic and wealthy houses in Europe. Not only was he invited to one of the most luxurious social events of the century, the Beistegui ball in Venice in 1951, but his work served as inspiration to such events: is was Beaton’s costume design for “My Fair Lady“ that inspired the chic “Black and White Ball“.




Beaton also made a significant contribution to the development of fashion photography, with an inherent instinct to dramatise the boundaries between real life and dreams. He famously claimed his job was “to stage an apotheosis” and saw social life as a performance of a persona that is defined through garments, gestures, and surroundings. He refined his theatrical sensibility in a series of images that became iconic for the 20th century. Beaton witnessed how the face of fame was changing, and made a dramatic contribution to the development of glamorous tabloid media. Having made his way into the beau monde, he came to be one of the most important and rigorous arbiters of good taste, and was always at the very centre of celebrity culture, which was the precursor of modern social media.

Hugo Vickers, Cecil Beaton's biographer, notes: “The key to Cecil Beaton’s approach to life was visual, and since he was a photographer of great distinction perhaps that is all that mattered. Cecil Beaton minded how things looked more than how things were. Anyone examining his work should remember that his first love was the theatre and therefore a strong theme of theatricality permeates everything he did. Truman Capote wrote perceptively of Beaton’s ‘visual intelligence.’ Beaton’s eye missed nothing. Capote was right to say: ‘The camera will never be invented that could capture and encompass all that he actually sees.” Gillian Sutro pointed out: ‘If there was a safety pin somewhere, he would find it.”

Renowned images to be shown at the Hermitage include 'Nancy Beaton as a fallen star'; 'Audrey Hepburn for My Fair Lady'; and 'Self Portrait as Nadar'. Some of the rarely-seen images include an archival print of Charles James fitting a model which includes marks made by Beaton's hand with red pencil; a recently-discovered full frame, uncropped image of the renowned 'White Panama hat', taken for Vogue in 1934; a contact sheet of portraits taken of Marlon Brando in Japan; a little-known collage of Rudolf Nureyev with a sense of pop-art in its execution; and two photographs that Beaton took on his trip to the USSR in 1935; a portrait of Elsa Schiaparelli and a self-portrait in a fur coat.

The exhibition 'Cecil Beaton: Celebrating Celebrity' is organized by the Contemporary Art Department of The State Hermitage Museum (Dr. Dimitri Ozerkov is the Head of that Department). The exhibition curator is Daria Panaiotti, Researcher in the Contemporary Art Department. An illustrated academic catalogue accompanies the exhibition (both in English and in Russian). It contains an introduction by Prof. Mikhail Piotrovsky, the General Director of the State Hermitage Museum, and essays by Daria Panaiotti, Hugo Vickers and Dr. Olga Khoroshilova, the fashion and cultural historian. An additional emphasis is made on Cecil Beaton’s travel to the USSR in 1935. (Fontanka Publishing House, London, 2020).










Today's News

December 9, 2020

Long-lost Flemish masterpiece discovered in Brussels district hall

Man who found hidden treasure in the Rocky Mountains is revealed

Phillips' Evening Sale of 20th Century & Contemporary Art realizes $134.6 million

Supreme Court hears Holocaust survivors' cases against Hungary and Germany

Freeman's best Fine Art sale since 2004 achieves $5.2 million

Christie's announces December Design Auction in New York

Hindman once again exceeds estimates in second Antiquities, Islamic & Indian Art Auction

Yoko Ono urges gun control on 40th anniversary of John Lennon's death

First exhibition in Russia dedicated to Cecil Beaton opens at the State Hermitage Museum

The Steve Turner Collection of African Americana once again exceeds estimates at Cowan's Auctions

A quarantine project is a thank-you to nurses

Al Held's first solo presentation in London since 2008 on view at White Cube

Milwaukee Art Museum names Robert Stein as Deputy Director and Chief Experience Officer

Terra Foundation adds Huey Copeland and Clare Muñana to board of directors

A costly quip angers Chinese moviegoers, and a film gets yanked

Prinseps break auction records for Bhanu Athaiya and Atul Bose

Tatjana Pieters presents an exhibition of works by Indrikis Gelzis

'A Suitable Boy' finally finds its perfect match: Mira Nair

New York Philharmonic musicians agree to years of pandemic pay cuts

Independent musicians thrive as pandemic silences Bollywood

Natalie Desselle, comedic heart of 'BAPS' and 'Eve,' dies at 53

Leading photography gallery Higher Pictures Generation opens in DUMBO

Tiwani Contemporary now representing Umar Rashid (Frohawk Two Feathers)

Gallery representing upcoming European talent opens in London's West End

10 Ways to Improve Your Painting Skills

The Algorithm of How to Buy Essay Online Cheap

Going on a Magical Adventure with Photographer and Author Michael Blanchard in His New Book 'Through A Sober Lens

How do I know if I have a wrongful death case

Types of warranties on cars

How does commercial electrical estimating work?

Step by step brief guide to becoming a professional building estimator




Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography,
Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs,
Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

 



Founder:
Ignacio Villarreal
(1941 - 2019)
Editor & Publisher: Jose Villarreal
Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez

sa gaming free credit
Attorneys
Truck Accident Attorneys
Accident Attorneys

Royalville Communications, Inc
produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org juncodelavega.com facundocabral-elfinal.org
Founder's Site. Hommage
to a Mexican poet.
Hommage
       

The First Art Newspaper on the Net. The Best Versions Of Ave Maria Song Junco de la Vega Site Ignacio Villarreal Site Parroquia Natividad del Señor
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful