Biography
Born in Newbridge near Newport, Monmouthshire, South
Wales, June 1904. Attended technical college, Newport,
briefly, followed by an unsuccessful series of bank jobs.
Father died 1924; family moved to Acton, London,
- Trainee in antiques department, Liberty’s, 1925–
- Worked for photographer Hugh Cecil for about a
year, then opened his own portrait studio in Belgrave
Road, Victoria. Theatrical commissions (masks, set
designs, and photographs) from 1933, including repro-
ductions in many periodicals. Began Surrealist experi-
ments, 1937. Closed Belgrave Road studio, 1940.
Incarcerated 1940–1942. Theatrical work suffered dur-
ing World War II because theaters were closed. Opened
new studio in Endell Street, Covent Garden, 1945. Rede-
signed interior of the Academy Cinema, Oxford Street, - Obtained contracts for LP record album covers,
1950s–1960s. Featured in a BBC television documen-
tary, 1982. Retired from photography; designed wall-
papers for friends and explored other craft projects.
Color fashion photography forL’Officiel, 1983, then
FrenchVogue. Died June 9, 1990.
Individual Exhibitions
1932 Masks and photographs; Pirate’s Den; London
1964 Photographs; organized by Kodak; London
1976 A Darker Side of the Moon; Impressions Gallery of
Photography; Colliergate, York, England
1982 The Photographers’ Gallery; London
1982 The B2 Gallery; Wapping; England
Selected Works
‘‘French without Tears’’ by Terence Rattigan, 1937
Pamela Stanley ‘‘Surrealized’’ in her Role as Victoria
Regina, 1938
Vivien Leigh ‘‘Surrealized,’’ 1938
Diana Churchill, 1940 (the cover ofPicture Post, which led
to theBritish Journal of Photographycontroversy and
German propaganda)
Binkie Beaumont, 1947
Tyrone Power, Hildy Parks, Jackie Cooper and the cast of
Mister Roberts, 1950
Audrey Hepburn, 1951
Charles Laughton in ‘‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream,’’ Strat-
ford, 1959
The Beatles, 1963
The Beatles, 1970
Further Reading
McBean, Angus.Handicrafts of the South Seas: An Illu-
strated Guide for Buyers. Rev. 2d ed. Noumea, New
Caledonia: South Pacific Commission, 1976.
———.Shakespeare Memorial Theatre: A Photographic
Record, with a critical analysis by Ivor Brown, London:
M. Reinhardt. [Began with issue for 1948/1950.]
McBean, Angus, and Lorenzo Maria Bottari.Dialogo tra
Fotografia e Pittura. Siracusa: EDIPRINT, c1987.
Williams, Valerie. ‘‘Angus McBean: Photographer.’’Photo-
graphic Journal, July/August 1976 (Vol. 116, No. 4):
216–220.
Woodhouse, Adrian.Angus McBean. Foreword by [Lord]
Snowdon. London: New York: Quartet Books, 1982.
———.Angus McBean,textbyAdrianWoodhouse;editor-
ial advisory board, Cornell Capaet al. London: Macdo-
nald, 1985.Angus McBean, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton in
Dr. Faustus.
[#Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS]MCBEAN, ANGUS