subscribe 0330 333 1113 I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk I 18 April 2020 25
What’sthetimelineforthisCecil
Beatonexhibition?
‘Thisexhibitionstartsin1924.I
chose 1924 becauseit wasthevery
firsttimethatBeatonhada
photographpublishedinVogue. He
was 20 yearsoldandit wasa
portraitofa fellowstudentat
CambridgeUniversity,playingthe
DuchessofMalfi.Voguebecomes
hisgreatpatronallthewaythrough
hislife.Theverylast[Beaton]
pictureswerestilldoneforVogue.
In 1979 hislastgreatfashionsitting
wasforParisVogue– hedidthe
collectionsforthemattheageof75,
sohehada verylongassociation
withthemagazine.
‘I finishtheexhibitionin 1937
whenhehasthisextraordinary
outsidepartyatAshcombeHouse,
hisWiltshirecountryhome.It was
oneofthegreatpartiesoftheROBIN MUIR, VOGUE ARCHIVIST & EXHIBITION CURATOR
century and it’s when the storm
clouds are beginning to collect
around middle Europe; it’s not
looking great and this party in
Beaton’s home brings down the
curtain on an era. So, it’s 1924 to
1937, when he is working out that he
can become a photographer and
what can photography do for him?
Can it advance him? It’s about him
starting out, how he reacts to
photography, how it reacts to him
and where it’s going to take him
next. It’s a very exciting and
inventive time for him.’How long did it take to develop
this exhibition?
‘The exhibition is basically going
right back to the original vintage
prints that Beaton made, so it’s
either the ones he kept for himself
or the one he gave to his sitter. Ittook about four years to track down
these extraordinary pictures. It’s
very much what we might term
“analogue”. It’s all black & white
and it’s all prints that were made
from 10x8in negatives or 5x4in
negatives. It’s very old school in
that sense.
‘The way the exhibition came
about was very odd. I started my
own Instagram feed. I’m sort of the
Vogue historian, so I put on lots of
interesting Vogue pictures from the
past that people might not have
known. Then I started doing it
with the Cecil Beaton holding at
the National Portrait Gallery,
partly doing these “Bright Young
Things” feeds.
‘The deputy director of the
National Portrait Gallery was
following me on Instagram
and she said, “I’ve been lookingRobin Muir is the
archivist at Vogue
magazine and is a
contributing editor to the
world-famous fashion
magazine. He was
previously photo editor
of British Vogue. He
curated the major 2016
exhibition Vogue 100: A
Century of Style for the
National Portrait Gallery
in London and wrote its
accompanying book