Everyone’s invited! A review of Cecil Beaton’s House Party at the National Portrait Gallery
- Flora Gilchrist
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
Flora Gilchrist
Photography acts as an imaginative tool, able to capture landscapes and windows into what once was. Positioned at the height of new optical technology, photography in the early twentieth century especially filled this liminal, transcendent space of reimagining people through a lens. The work of Cecil Beaton captures this optic essence perfectly, acting as a literal manifestation of someone’s physicality and their inner character. This blend of artistic skill that defined Beaton’s photographic career started from a very young age.
Born in 1904 in Hampstead, Beaton was one of Britain’s most famous twentieth century photographers. Beaton was lucky enough to be born into a wealthy circle with bountiful opportunities for making connections. His father was a wealthy merchant, and was able to send Beaton to Harrow School, and then Beaton went to Cambridge University. In terms of photography, Beaton received a camera as a gift at age eleven, and since then experimented with photographs of family members which morphed into friends, colleagues, and eventually famous faces. It was with great skill, dexterity, and talent that Beaton was able to filter in and out of upper-class social circles with ease.
This exhibition is a reimagining of the 2020 exhibition entitled Cecil Beaton’s Fashionable World, which unfortunately closed after six days due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Running until early 2026, this exhibition specifically had one night where the opening times of the gallery extended, and only young people between the ages of sixteen to twenty-five were able to visit.
A gallery space turned house party, the initiative was organised by young people, for the next generation to enjoy an after-hours viewing experience, without the conventional pressures of viewing works within an environment catered to older audiences. The event itself was staged as a house party, with the various rooms of the gallery relating to a conventional room in a manor house, including a dining room, drawing room and bedroom. A personal favourite room was actually hidden beneath the ground floor of the gallery space. Transformed from the Law Photography Studio Learning Centre, this space was styled into a recreation of Beaton’s bathroom. The space itself had many mirrors, making the light from the LEDS and fairy lights bounce from wall to wall. This use of light was a particular success, acting as an optical illusion similar to the very performative nature of Beaton’s shining works. The bathroom was complete with face painters, who drew shimmering metallic stars and shapes onto attendees. Transformed into decorations fit for a 1920s decadent house party, many guests now mirrored the extravagant sitters of Beaton’s portraits.
The exhibition itself begins in the main foyer of the gallery, taking a chronological approach. Beaton’s early works focus on the country house, with Beaton’s own home, Ashcombe House and then Reddish House in Broadchalke, Wiltshire, becoming a hub of artistic creation and experimentation. What came from Beaton’s time at Oxford and introduction into rich, young social circles was the creation of a group of socialites who named themselves The Bright Young Things, who Beaton was part of and photographed. Often positioned in scenes of nature and flowers, this group showed off their wealth and progressive attitudes with their excess frills, dress shirts and boots. In this time of his life, Beaton occupied a liminal position, as both the outside photographer, and an active participant in the revelry, excess and indulgence of upper-class life of the 1920s.
Beaton’s circle of acquaintances was particularly expansive, photographing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Salvador Dali, to Francis Bacon. This exhibition showcases the pure microcosm of talented faces Beaton crossed paths with. Despite the sheer number of works Beaton completed, each portrait was the opposite of monotonous, with each photo using material culture, props, and techniques such as cellophane and silver foil to channel the very essence of the sitter. Beaton didn’t just know these public faces, but by photographing them, he was able to capture a mirror into their personalities; perhaps the celebrity façade faded ever so slightly.
By the end of Beaton’s life, he became immersed in photographing more serious political and social conflicts. With the ongoing presence of present-day conflicts, it is easy to forget just how close to home war came to British citizens in the 1940s. Beaton’s war photography captures the devasting effects of the Second World War on day-to-day life and acts as a reminder of the lack of discrimination war brings. Fashion is Indestructible, 1941, captures a well-dressed woman in front of a destroyed building in the heart of London. This stark visual contrast between wealth and destruction shows how even the most fortunate can be affected by war. In capturing a dark time in Britain’s past, it is clear Beaton’s photography progresses to a more journalistic and documentary style. As well as a clear progression, Beaton’s work never loses its charm, with the title acting as a humorous and optimistic reminder that the character of the nation should not fade during extreme times.
This extensive exhibition of Beaton’s life was perfectly embodied by this group of young curators, who captured his youthful persona, subversions of gender and fun-loving attitude perfectly. Transformative, accessible, and light-hearted, these yearly events at the National Portrait Gallery aimed at young creatives is definitely not one to miss. Ultimately, this exhibition is a testament to how Beaton’s twentieth century photographic charm still resonates with audiences today.
Cecil Beaton's Fashionable World is on display at the National Portrait Gallery until the 11th of January 2026.
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