Identity area
Reference code
Beaton/A/A2/14a/27
Unique identifier
Title
Date(s)
- 18 Apr. 1948 (Circa. Letter dated 'April 15th'.) (Creation)
Level of description
Item
Extent and medium
5 p. paper
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Photographer, artist, writer, and designer of scenery and costumes. Educated at Harrow and St John's College, Cambridge, 1922-5. Made his name as a photographer through portraits of the Sitwells. Employed by Vogue in London and New York. Published 'The Book of Beauty' (1930). Photographed the Duke of Windsor's wedding, 1937. War photographer, 1939-45. Designed 'Lady Windermere's Fan', 1945. Designed costumes for 'An Ideal Husband' and 'Anna Karenina', 1948. Worked on 'The School for Scandal', 1949, 'Quadrille' for Noel Coward, 1952, 'Turandot', 1961, and 'La Traviata', 1966. Designed costumes for 'My Fair Lady', 1956, and for the film version in Hollywood, 1963. His play 'The Gainsborough Girls', 1951 and 1959, was unsuccessful. Published 'The Glass of Fashion' (1954), and six volumes of diaries. Exhibited photographs at the National Portrait Gallery, 1968. Knighted 1972.
Repository
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Describes his activities during his trip to London, including shopping for antiques, attending a play starring Gladys Cooper, going to a dinner for Duff and Diana Cooper, lunches with a director of the Old Vic, and with Diana Cooper and Evelyn Waugh. Discusses Queen Mary's theatre going habits. Confesses his fear of Evelyn Waugh. Mentions plans for a project on Gainsborough. Details a visit to Reddish from Juliet Duff and her guests.