Overview
The archives of British Vogue define modern portraiture. Its collection remains a stylish barometer of the social and cultural changes that shaped the 20th century. From princesses to rock stars, models to actors, society beauties to world leaders, these are portraits of figures who have made an enduring mark on their age. And just as the pictures are a who’s who of the brilliant and beautiful, the selection of photographers is equally stellar. Daring, discerning, iconoclastic—here are the people who defined their art, including Horst, Beaton, Steichen, Penn, Snowdon, Parkinson, Bailey, and Testino.
Synopsis
The archives of British Vogue define modern portraiture. Its collection remains a stylish barometer of the social and cultural changes that shaped the 20th century. From princesses to rock stars, models to actors, society beauties to world leaders, these are portraits of figures who have made an enduring mark on their age. And just as the pictures are a who’s who of the brilliant and beautiful, the selection of photographers is equally stellar. Daring, discerning, iconoclastic—here are the people who defined their art, including Horst, Beaton, Steichen, Penn, Snowdon, Parkinson, Bailey, and Testino.
Publishers Weekly
This rich volume could well serve as a photographic history of well-heeled British culture during the 20th century, and there's an interesting story behind almost every shot. Edited by Derrick, British Vogue's creative director, and Muir, the magazine's former picture editor, the assemblage includes 350 b&w and color photographs, some previously published and many that never made it into the magazine's pages. A century's worth of artists, actors, politicians, models, royalty and singers-not all of them British-are represented, including blue-blooded novelist Nancy Mitford, a playful Sophia Loren and Queen Elizabeth as a young princess in uniform during World War II. Also posing are Maria Callas, Lee Radziwill, Vivian Leigh, a pensive Peter Sellers and a diminutive Picasso welcoming Allied soldiers into postwar Paris. While it includes the work of many talented photographers-Lee Miller, Cecil Beaton and Richard Avedon, for example-what helps set the book apart are the intelligent captions, which tell lesser-known stories about each subject and frequently quote the photographer himself. Of Tennessee Williams, Roloff Beny recalled the playwright had a "curiously upper-class British accent" and a discursive conversational style: "I can't remember anything he said." When Lord Snowdon photographed famed romance writer Barbara Cartland, he noted that "she was clearly unimpressed by my small camera and lack of equipment...she kept a store of her own lights for visiting photographers and gave me very detailed instructions of where to place them." This extensive and beautifully designed collection proves the photo archives at British Vogue to be a fascinating catalogue of a celebrity, wealth and success. (Mar.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.