Cecil Beaton: The New York Years

As a companion to the exhibit, Rizzoli published a gorgeous and definitive eponymous portfolio of images and essays ($65).

Beaton lived for stints at the Plaza and Ambassador hotels. At the latter, he decorated his room and shot subjects there, such as the famous Marilyn Monroe portrait from 1956. “He was very clever: He got a lower rate from the hotel owner, and they could then rent out the ‘Beaton Suite’ for more money,” says curator Donald Albrecht.

For more info, visit Cecil Beaton: The New York Years 

Although Beaton was undoubtedly gay, he had an affair with Greta Garbo in the 1940s. “She’s some kind of an ideal rather than a real person to him,” says curator Donald Albrecht explains. (For more secrets, make sure you check out the panel Albrecht is hosting on Feb. 11 at the museum.)

For more info, visit Cecil Beaton: The New York Years 

“He’s a hydra-headed figure,” curator Donald Albrecht says. “Beaton connected his social and professional life. In the ’60s he was criticized for being too close to his subjects and not being aloof enough. But I think Warhol and Capote wanted to be like that, so they emulated him to be that way.” (For more secrets, make sure you check out the panel Albrecht is hosting on Feb. 11 at the museum.)

For more info, visit Cecil Beaton: The New York Years

“Beaton was always blurring the line between art and commerce,” according to curator Donald Albrecht. (For more secrets, make sure you check out the panel Albrecht is hosting on Feb. 11 at the museum.)

For more info, visit Cecil Beaton: The New York Years

A man named Sam Green, “of indeterminate sexuality,” introduced Beaton to Warhol. Beaton joined Pop Art, photographing Warhol, Candy Darling and the other Factory “superstars.” (For more secrets, make sure you check out the panel Albrecht is hosting on Feb. 11 at the museum.)

For more info, visit Cecil Beaton: The New York Years

Beaton lived for stints at the Plaza and Ambassador hotels. At the latter, he decorated his room and shot subjects there, such as the famous Marilyn Monroe portrait from 1956. “He was very clever: He got a lower rate from the hotel owner, and they could then rent out the ‘Beaton Suite’ for more money," says curator Donald Albrecht. (For more secrets, make sure you check out the panel Albrecht is hosting on Feb. 11 at the museum

For more info, visit Cecil Beaton: The New York Years

In the Beaton-designed 1969 Broadway musical Coco, starring Katharine Hepburn, not only did he design the costumes and sets, he then photographed Hepburn to publicize the show. “By that point in his career, he’s known to be multifaceted. He was accused to be a bit of a dilettante. But now he seems prescient and ahead of his time.”

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