BEATON, Cecil
 
Portrait of Howard Macmillan; original drawing in pencil on paper, 1961.
 
Description
 
Minor handling marks to paper, otherwise bright and clean and excellent throughout.
Framed and glazed with UV resistant art glass.
As a leading photographer and illustrator, Beaton captured Macmillan in several pencil portraits and photographs, including works now held by the National Portrait Gallery. Beyond their professional encounters, they moved in the same elite circles—both were closely tied to the British Royal Family and figures like Princess Margaret—and Beaton frequently recorded his candid observations of Macmillan’s political and social life within his famous published diaries. Beaton’s career was defined by a seamless transition from documenting the rebellious "Bright Young Things" to crafting the definitive visual identities of icons like Audrey Hepburn and the British Royal Family. Influenced by the surrealism of Salvador Dalí and the clean classicism of contemporaries like George Hoyningen-Huene, he pioneered a theatrical, "artificial" style that used elaborate sets and floral motifs to elevate portraiture into high art. By blending his work as a Vogue photographer with Oscar-winning costume design, Beaton remained a dominant cultural force for six decades, eventually capturing the raw energy of the 1960s through portraits of the Rolling Stones.
Sheet, 21.9x34.8cm; external, 25.3x38.6cm.