Malice in Wonderland: Cecil Beaton’s Life and Work

Thursday, November 19 10:00 a.m. Speaker: Hugo Vickers, Author and Historian MOPA@SDMA Joan and Irwin Jacobs Theater Cecil Beaton (1904-1980) was a total self-creation. Through photography he rose to become one of the great observers of the twentieth century. His portraits of the British Royal Family and of stars of both the stage and screen are legendary. He became a designer of costumes and sets for stage, screen, opera, and ballet; an artist; a wicked diarist; an arbiter of taste; and a man who moved easily in many varied worlds. He portrayed the great figures of the age in dazzling photographs as well as in drawings. In this talk, Hugo Vickers, the biographer and literary executor for Cecil Beaton, explains how Beaton turned himself into this extraordinary figure. Guests will meet the world of the Bright Young Things, Hollywood, the British Royal Family, World War II, Gigi, My Fair Lady, and the Peacock Revolution of the 1960s. Hugo Vickers is well known as a biographer, lecturer, and broadcaster. He is also an acknowledged expert on the British Royal Family. Vickers has also published his own diaries about researching Cecil Beaton, entitled Malice in Wonderland: My Adventures in the World of Cecil Beaton (2021). Following the lecture, guests are invited to enjoy a guided tour led by our docent team. This special Guest Lecture complements Cecil Beaton’s Fashionable World, on view at the Museum of Photographic Arts at The San Diego Museum of Art (MOPA@SDMA) through January 10, 2027. Please note, this lecture is in-person only and held at the MOPA@SDMA Joan and Irwin Jacobs Theater in Balboa Park. $15 members and students | $20 seniors and military | $30 nonmembers Get Tickets The Cecil Beaton’s Fashionable World exhibition and this lecture are generously sponsored by The Bern Schwartz Family Foundation. This lecture is presented as a part of the Guest Lecture Series, which offers a platform for renowned scholars and experts from the art world to share their insights and knowledge on topics related to art history, art theory, and the museum’s collections. Sponsored by The San Diego Museum of Art Docent Council Featured at top right: Cecil Beaton, Cecil Beaton in Hollywood (detail), 1930s. Gelatin silver print. The National Portrait Gallery, London. © National Portrait Gallery, London.