“My garden is the greatest joy of my life, after my friends. Both are worth living for.” - Cecil Beaton, 1979
Cecil Beaton by Cecil Beaton, 1960s © Cecil Beaton Archive, Condé Nast; The Cutting Garden, Cecil Beaton © National Portrait Gallery, London; Bianca Jagger by Cecil Beaton, 1978; 'Black Velvet, Black Braid', by Cecil Beaton at Reddish House for British Vogue, August 1950; People in costume at Cecil Beaton's Ashcombe House for the Fête Champêtre by Cecil Beaton, 1937 © Cecil Beaton Archive, Condé Nast
Tracing Beaton’s horticultural journey through his gardens at Ashcombe House and Reddish House in Wiltshire, the exhibition will include his personal diaries, photographs of friends and family gathering in his gardens, opera and ballet costume sketches and dresses of his own design.
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This catalogue accompanying the exhibition includes a foreword by art historian and museum director Sir Roy Strong sharing memories of his lifelong friendship with Beaton, which followed their collaboration on Beaton’s 1968 exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, where Strong was then Director.
An essay by Garden Museum Curator Emma House further explores Beaton’s passion for his gardens, with photographs, paintings, drawings, costume and set designs from the exhibition illustrating the role flowers played in developing his creative practice.
£20
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