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Cecil Beaton (British, 1904-1980) A design for Midas, circa 1922-23 unframed (together with an autograph letter signed ("Cecil Beaton") to Dennis Arundell ("Dear Arundell"), asking him to return his design for the cover of Midas as "...I might possibly be having an exhibition & wondered if it was good enough to show... I was fairly pleased with it at the time... Is it lost?...", going on to invite him to see his newest designs and behind the scenes at Hammersmith, two pages, dust-staining and marks, 229 x 177mm, 61 Sussex Gardens, Hyde Park, W., [no date] (2)) image 1

The Roy Astley Collection: Theatrical Designs by Cecil Beaton and Oliver Messel

Lot 1^AR

Cecil Beaton
(British, 1904-1980)
A design for Midas, circa 1922-23 unframed

20 May – 3 June 2025, 12:00 BST

Online, London, Knightsbridge

Sold for £640 inc. premium

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Cecil Beaton (British, 1904-1980)

A design for Midas, circa 1922-23
signed 'Cecil Beaton' (lower right), and variously inscribed 'MIDAS. a comic opera by Kane O'hara./1st performance Theatre Royale in Convent garden 1764/Arranged for revival at Cambridge by Dennis Arundell-1923' (upper and lower edges)
watercolour, gouache and pen and ink
51 x 39.25cm (20 1/16 x 15 7/16in).
unframed
together with an autograph letter signed ("Cecil Beaton") to Dennis Arundell ("Dear Arundell"), asking him to return his design for the cover of Midas as "...I might possibly be having an exhibition & wondered if it was good enough to show... I was fairly pleased with it at the time... Is it lost?...", going on to invite him to see his newest designs and behind the scenes at Hammersmith, two pages, dust-staining and marks, 229 x 177mm, 61 Sussex Gardens, Hyde Park, W., [no date] (2)

Footnotes

Beaton enrolled at St John's College, Cambridge in 1922 and threw himself in to the theatrical world of the university, as both an actor and a set and costume designer for the ADC and the Marlowe Society.

It was here that he met Dennis Arundell (1898-1988) who was a Fellow of St John's from 1923 to 1929 and greatly encouraged the amateur dramatic scene there. He mounted many plays while a Fellow, and worked directly with Beaton for the first British performance of Pirandello's Enrico IV. The present lot is another example of the collaboration between the two, and the accompanying letter is testament to their longstanding friendship.

Provenance
Gifted by the artist to Dennis Arundell (according to associated labels and letter)

Exhibited
The Barbican Art Gallery, London, Cecil Beaton, 16 May - 20 July 1986, Section A (according to associated labels)

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