Mr. Beaton Takes New York

"Self Portrait on the Brooklyn Bridge, New York City” Cecil Beaton (ca. 1929)

During my holiday break I ventured up to the Museum of the City of New York to view the exhibit “Cecil Beaton: The New York Years.” Beginning in 1928, the British photographer, designer, and society darling would live on and off in the city for 40 years, taking up residency in the best hotels (whose rooms he would decorate) while working for American Vogue and Vanity Fair.

The exhibit is like Beaton himself—a perfect blend of gossip and art. One is drawn in immediately by the illustrated walls of the hall leading to the exhibit room (the illustrations, of people and places from the 1920s, are copies from Beaton's diaries) and an entrance covered with Beaton-designed black and white rose wallpaper.

Inside is a large assortment of photographs, drawings, letters, diaries, and even some of the costumes Beaton designed for the Metropolitan Opera. Broken up by subject and time period, the collection is a fascinating look at the world in which Beaton moved, flitting between high society women and royalty to authors, actors, and rock stars.

"Princess Natalia Paley" Cecil Beaton (ca. 1935)

Most of the subjects are recognisable: a baby-faced Marlon Brandon, a smiling Greta Garbo (rare indeed), a rigid-looking Wallis Simpson, a glowing Marilyn Monroe, an elfish Cole Porter. One of my favourite photographs was of a woman I wasn’t familiar with and whose image graces the exhibit’s catalogue. The Garbo-like Natalia Paley, a cousin of the Czar Nicholas II, is posed in front of the wiring from a box spring, which just adds to the photo's glamorous deco look.  

The books in the display cases (diaries that Beaton published) made me make a mental note to check out some of Beaton’s writings. The man who said “Perhaps the world's second-worst crime is boredom; the first is being a bore” should definitely make for an interesting read.

“Cecil Beaton: The New York Years” runs through February 20, 2012. You can find out more about the exhibit here. 

Photos from Cecil Beaton Studio Archive at Sotheby’s.

The City in Colour

"Golden Gate Bridge-Marin End" (1938)

How is it I'm just now finding out about Charles Weever Cushman? An amateur photographer, he took more than 14,000 photos over a period of 30 years beginning in the late 1930s. Among the photos are your requisite scenic shots as well as images of street scenes and everyday people. What makes these so remarkable is that he shot them on Kodachrome, an expensive colour film that was normally used by professionals. Accustomed to seeing the past in black and white, images such as these allow us to see history in a whole new light. The image above, taken just one year after the opening of the Golden Gate Bridge, is striking because of the red car. It also reminds us that not all cars back then were black.

"Stores near corner of Broome St. and Baruch Place, Lower East Side, NYC." (1941)

Or take this street scene from New York's Lower East Side. I've done all of the Tenement Museum tours and read countless accounts of the area but seeing the neighbourhood in colour, and especially the people, allows me to imagine what it was like to live there a bit more than before (note: except for the signage, a lot of the buildings in his New York shots look pretty much the same today).

"Three bums from South Ferry flophouses. At Battery Park NYC." (1941)

It's hard not to love an image whose description includes the words "bums" and "flophouses." What faces these men have. I wonder what they were talking about or if any of them had any idea that by the end of the year the country would be at war.

Cushman left his collection to his alma mater, Indiana University, and the University Archives has a great website where you can see more of the images and read up on Cushman's life. Please check it out.

My New Boyfriend

I came across this photo of two members of the Columbia University football team dressed in their practice gear circa 1898. Check out the guy on the right. I think I’ve just found my new daguerreotype boyfriend (and I don’t even like football).

Photo from the Collections of the Museum of the City of New York.