Cecil Beaton : portraits & profiles /

Cecil Beaton's fantastic, prolific career never goes out of style, judging by the number of books featuring his writings, drawings, and photographs. This new compilation, edited by Beaton's biographer and literary executor pairs striking portraits with selections from the photographer's diaries and other works. The range of eras and subjects demonstrates that Beaton (1904-80) knew everyone who was anyone from the 1920s to the 1970s: Queen Elizabeth, Mick Jagger, Colette, Marlene Dietrich, Truman Capote, Margot Fonteyn, Pablo Picasso, Winston Churchill, Twiggy, Marilyn Monroe, to name a few. Vickers adds brief biographical notes about the famous figures and their relationships with the portraitist. Photos are grouped into categories, including "The Roaring Twenties," "High Society, Haute Couture," and "The Peacock Revolution," and indexed by name. Jean Cocteau (also featured in the book) dubbed Beaton "Malice in Wonderland" for catty remarks on his subjects, but venom is mostly de-emphasized here in favor of chatty and charming anecdotes. In several self-portraits, the artist turns the camera on himself at various ages, looking appropriately debonair and ever conscious of the demands of celebrity and posterity. VERDICT Beaton's sharp eye and sharper pen continue to fascinate in this handsome coffee-table survey of his work. Lindsay King, Yale Univ. Libs, New Haven, CT (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.