Cecil Beaton: Staging Icons 

This summer, Yorkshire’s most vibrant country house, Harewood House Trust, hosts a major exhibition dedicated to the legendary photographer Cecil Beaton (1904 – 1980).

Renowned for his innovative theatrical style, Beaton captured some of the most iconic figures of the 20th Century, from Hollywood legends and stars of the West End to the British Royal Family. Organised by the National Portrait Gallery in partnership with Harewood House Trust, Cecil Beaton: Staging Icons (13 June – 4 October 2026) brings together more than 50 unforgettable photographs from the National Portrait Gallery’s collection, some on display to the public for the first time. 

Staging Icons offers a captivating journey through Beaton’s extraordinary career as a photographer to the stars. Featuring era-defining portraits such as those of Audrey Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe, Fred Astaire, Queen Elizabeth II and others, the show explores how Beaton’s spectacular approach to staging and design fashioned the identities of his all-star clientele, whilst also revealing Harewood’s own connections to the photographer’s world. From the opulence of the stage to the solemn grandeur of the monarchy, Staging Icons invites visitors to consider Beaton’s approach to image-making through the art of performance and how it continues to shape identity and the public imagination today.

Beaton’s first love was the stage, and it left a profound mark on his groundbreaking photographic style. Using elaborate backdrops, theatrical props, costume, lighting and dramatic composition, he blurred the line between reality and artifice, transforming each of his portraits into a work of visual theatre. His passion for creating opulent sets extended to stage and costume design, bringing his unique aesthetic to numerous operas and ballets, as well as stage and film productions in the post-war period.

Beaton’s bold creative vision was also instrumental in his work for the British Royal Family. Appointed royal photographer in 1939, his revolutionary portraits propelled the monarchy into the modern age, creating images that were both strikingly glamorous – demonstrated in Beaton’s portraits of Princess Margaret and Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother – as well as remarkably intimate. Just like his work in show-business, Beaton’s royal portraiture combined elegance and control with theatre, spectacle and fantasy. 

Staging Icons also explores Harewood’s connection to Beaton and the world of stage and screen, featuring original portraits, artworks and archival material from the Harewood collection. Throughout his career, Beaton photographed numerous members of the Lascelles family and visited Harewood on several occasions during the 60s and early 70s.

Several portraits on display feature George and Patricia Lascelles, 7th Earl and Countess of Harewood, who shared Beaton’s passion for the performing arts. Through their successful careers in music, the couple were personal friends with many of Beaton’s sitters, such as the opera singer Maria Callas and composer Benjamin Britten. Harewood’s historic visitor book, featuring Beaton’s signature, as well as a hand-drawn Christmas card, appears in the show, documenting the photographer’s personal relationship with the family. 

Cecil Beaton: Staging Icons is organised by the National Portrait Gallery in partnership with Harewood House Trust, marking their first collaborative project. Featuring a number of never-before displayed portraits, Staging Icons brings the National Portrait Gallery’s internationally significant Beaton collection to audiences in the North of England. Displayed throughout Harewood’s grand State Floor interiors, this major loan is presented against the backdrop Harewood’s own renowned collection of British portraiture, including recent acquisitions such as Ashley Karrell’s powerful photographic portrait of British actor, David Harewood. This work was commissioned as part of Harewood’s Missing Portrait series that seeks to redress the lack of diversity within its historic portrait collection by commissioning new portraits of men and women of African-Caribbean heritage who have contemporary connections to Harewood. 

Zoë Hughes, Head of Public Programme at Harewood House Trust, commented: “Beaton’s visits to Harewood in the 60s and 70s is just one example of how the site has long been a source of inspiration for artists. Today, Harewood continuously reimagines what makes a historic country house, and by working with the National Portrait Gallery for the first time to bring together Beaton’s work and the House’s rich history, we offer our visitors the chance to step into his glamorous world and see icons, stars, and royals amongst the beautiful backdrop of the House.” 

Miranda Stacey, Head of National Partnerships, National Portrait Gallery said “Beaton’s impact on portraiture, and how we visualise British culture, cannot be underestimated. Whether capturing a monarch or a muse, Beaton shaped the public imagination through his use of fantasy, beauty, and the art of performance.  Beaton and the National Portrait Gallery share a long and distinguished history and his first major retrospective, Beaton Portraits, was presented here in 1968. It marked the first time the Gallery had ever exhibited photographs and the first time portraits of living sitters were shown, laying the foundations for our enduring commitment to photography. We are thrilled to collaborate with Harewood House Trust to bring over 50 Beaton photographs from our collection to the North, giving audiences the chance to experience the creativity, elegance, and theatricality that defined Beaton’s work.”

Cecil Beaton: Staging Icons opens at Harewood House from 13 June to the 4 October 2026. For more information visit: https://harewood.org/events/cecil-beaton-staging-icons/

Images courtesy of the Cecil Beaton Archive, Condé Nast, and the Victoria & Albert Museum.

Featured image: Cecil Beaton by Cecil Beaton, 1933 © Cecil Beaton Archive. Conde Nast.