Portrait of Valentine Lamb* (1950)

Sir Cecil Beaton was one of the leading British photographers of the twentieth century. His early studio portraits of debutantes and celebrities often involved elaborate theatrical backdrops, and helped define the image of the ‘Bright Young Thing.’ He also worked as an illustrator, a diarist, and an Academy Award-winning costume and set designer. He won Academy Awards for his costume design in Gigi (1958) and for both his costume design and his art direction in My Fair Lady (1964). Several volumes of his diaries, which appeared in the 1960s and ’70s, were summarized in Self Portrait with Friends: The Selected Diaries of Cecil Beaton, 1926–1974 (1979). Beaton was knighted in 1972.

This portrait is a rare example of his skill as a painter.

*Valentine Lamb (1939-2015) was the son of the artist Henry Lamb and Lady Pansy Pakenham. He was a highly respected figure in Irish racing and was editor of the Irish Field for 33 years.