The larger prints in this set of 71 were given to Woodhouse by McBean, and others were bought from dealers and at auction over the past 30 years. McBean was born in Wales and learnt his trade in London as assistant to the photographer Hugh Cecil. He became celebrated for his Surrealist portraits of theatre stars and other celebrities, a role that continued right up to the 1980s when he shot Vivienne Westwood and Tilda Swinton. Archive material by McBean is also held at the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth, but this group of rare prints (some unique) is now the most representative collection of McBeanÂ’s work held by any public institution in Britain.

Provenance

Gifted by the artist to the previous owner, Adrian Woodhouse.