Angus McBean manuscripts

A visitors book and two 'rotation books' (session lists) relating to the studio of the photographer Angus McBean, 1945-1987.

Angus McBean (1904-1990), photographer, was born in Newbridge, Monmouthshire, on 8 June 1904, the son of Clem and Irene McBean. The family moved regularly due to his father's work as a mine surveyor. He attended Monmouth Grammar School, 1915-1921, and Newport Technical College, 1921, then worked as a bank clerk, 1921-1924. Following his father's death in 1924 he moved to London with his mother and sister and worked in a department store for several years. He had been interested in photography, the theatre and mask making since his teenage years and in 1934 he became assistant to photographer Hugh Cecil (1889-1974). The following year he opened his own portrait studio. A commission from Ivor Novello to make masks for the play 'The Happy Hypocrite' in 1936 eventually led to him becoming one of the foremost theatrical photographers of his time. He also became famous for his surrealist portraits of the stars of theatre and film, comedians and pop stars. Work for record company EMI included the famous photograph of the Beatles for the cover of their first album 'Please Please Me' (1963). From 1945 McBean was based at a studio in Endell Street, Covent Garden, employing up to ten people; he relocated to Islington in the late 1960s. He retired in 1970 and went to live at Fleming's Hall, Suffolk. He came out of retirement in 1983, taking fashion photos and portraits until his death in June 1990.

Arranged according to NLW MSS reference numbers: NLW MSS 24041-3D.

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Lacy Scott & Knight; Bury St Edmunds; Purchased at auction, lot 30; 12 April 2013

Angus McBean (1904-1990), photographer, was born in Newbridge, Monmouthshire, on 8 June 1904, the son of Clem and Irene McBean. The family moved regularly due to his father's work as a mine surveyor. He attended Monmouth Grammar School, 1915-1921, and Newport Technical College, 1921, then worked as a bank clerk, 1921-1924. Following his father's death in 1924 he moved to London with his mother and sister and worked in a department store for several years. He had been interested in photography, the theatre and mask making since his teenage years and in 1934 he became assistant to photographer Hugh Cecil (1889-1974). The following year he opened his own portrait studio. A commission from Ivor Novello to make masks for the play 'The Happy Hypocrite' in 1936 eventually led to him becoming one of the foremost theatrical photographers of his time. He also became famous for his surrealist portraits of the stars of theatre and film, comedians and pop stars. Work for record company EMI included the famous photograph of the Beatles for the cover of their first album 'Please Please Me' (1963). From 1945 McBean was based at a studio in Endell Street, Covent Garden, employing up to ten people; he relocated to Islington in the late 1960s. He retired in 1970 and went to live at Fleming's Hall, Suffolk. He came out of retirement in 1983, taking fashion photos and portraits until his death in June 1990.

The following sources were used in the compilation of this description: Adrian Woodhouse, Angus McBean (London, 1982); Val Williams, 'McBean, Angus Rowland (1904-1990)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (2004; online ed., September 2012) <http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/39960> [accessed 26 June 2013].

Title based on contents.

June 2013.

Description compiled by Rhys Morgan Jones.

Usual copyright laws apply. Information regarding ownership of Angus McBean copyright can be found at http://tyler.hrc.utexas.edu/ (viewed June 2013).

Left by McBean to his partner and studio assistant, David Ball, the consigner in the 2013 auction.

A substantial group of Angus McBean photographs is Cambridge (Mass.), Harvard College Library, Harvard Theatre Collection, MS Thr 581. For Angus McBean photographs in the National Library of Wales see NLW Photo Albums 1053 (B), 1904 (D), 3433 (D), 3799 (D), 3929 (B), 4247 (B).

Published

Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru = The National Library of Wales