“The Photographer Dandy” is the apt title of the exhibition dedicated to Cecil Beaton, the eccentric and bold but elegant witness to the 20th century world of entertainment and avant-garde art. Showing at the Hendrik C. Andesen Museum in Rome, it offers about a hundred works illustrating the interests, relationships and passions of the photographer who in 1972 was knighted by Queen Elizabeth for services to the arts.

Not only a photographer but also one of the most famous caricaturists, illustrators, stage and costume designers, Beaton won two Oscars for the costumes of the film “Gigi” (1958) and for those worn by Audrey Hepburn in “My Fair Lady” (1964). Born in London of a rich family, Beaton moved to New York where he worked for Vogue and Vanity Fair and began to mix with the entertainment and art world. The author of books like “The Glass of Fashion”, Beaton managed through his eccentric lens to portray the leading figures of a whole century.

He photographed artists like Picasso, Jean Cocteau, Salvador Dalí, Henry Moore, Stravinsky, Francis Bacon, Andy Warhol. And rock stars like Mick Jagger and Keith Richard sat for him too, along with Hollywood female stars and top models. The Rome show is a touring event, curated by Philippe Garner and organised by the British Council and by the Cecil Beaton Archive of Sotheby’s in London, brought to Rome by the Gallery programme of the British Academy.

until 14.5.2002
Il fotografo Dandy
Museo Hendrik Andersen
Via Pasquale Stanislao Mancini 20, Rome
T +39-06-32298302; +39-06-3219089
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