Cecil Beaton: The New York Years

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Donald Albrecht

Skira (Rizzoli), New York, 2011, English

Nonfiction, Fashion Design; Nonfiction, Film and Theater; Nonfiction, Photography

9.5 x 11.75 inches, hardcover, 240 pages

ISBN: 9780847835652

Suggested Retail Price: $65.00

From the Publisher. Features sketches, costumes, set designs, previously unpublished letters, and over 220 photographs and drawings, many in color and never seen before. This volume documents Cecil Beaton’s most influential relationships with quintessential figures of the New York art scene, including Greta Garbo, his female confidant and muse, and Andy Warhol, and chronicles his career in fashion, portraiture, and the performing arts.

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Phil Patton

On Phil Patton’s Notable Books of 2011 list

Beaton was a schoolmate of Evelyn Waugh and hung out with Greta Garbo. He moved from the world of the 1920s Bright Young People to 1960s Carnaby Street.

Six degrees of Cecil Beaton would connect just about everyone in fashion, film, and art of the 20th century. This fresh view, published to accompany an exhibition at the Museum of the City of New York, looks at Beaton’s time in New York, which was halfway between London and Hollywood. The show, featuring drawings and costumes, is an important reminder that Beaton was not only a photographer of royalty, fashion, Hollywood, and the stage—he was himself a designer, creating stage sets, lighting, and costumes, notably for My Fair Lady and the film Gigi.

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