Cecil Beaton (British, 1904-1980) A portrait of the Duchess of Windsor Full-length, with additional pencil sketches to the right-hand side of the Duchess Watercolour and pencil on paper 51 x 18.5cm (20 1/16 x 7 5/16in). Footnotes: Provenance The Collection of Sir Cecil Beaton. Michael Parkin Fine Art, London, Cecil Beaton: Memorial Exhibition, February 1983, where purchased by the present owner. Literature Cecil Beaton, The Wandering Years, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1961, pp. 300-301. Illustrated Hugo Vickers, Cecil Beaton - The Authorised Biography, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1985, pp. 226-227. Suzy Menks, The Windsor Style, Grafton Books, 1987, p. 86. Hugo Vickers, Behing Closed Doors, Hutchinson, 2011, pp. 278-279. Exhibited Michael Parkin Fine Art, London, Cecil Beaton: Memorial Exhibition, 19 January - 18 February 1983, no.84. The Barbican Art Gallery, London, Cecil Beaton, 16 May - 20 July 1986, cat.no.F47. Salisbury Museum, Salisbury, Cecil Beaton at Home: Ashcombe & Reddish, 23 May - 19 September 2014. Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler, London, Beaton at Brook Street, 18 November - 5 December 2014. Zuleika Gallery at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, Cecil Beaton and the Theatre, 12 June - 31 August 2021. The above portrait sketch of The Duchess of Windsor is one of four existing from the day Beaton spent sketching her at her flat in London on 19 November 1936. This occasion is documented in his diaries: Mrs Simpson 'looked immaculate, soigneé and fresh as a young girl. Her skin was as bright and smooth as the inside of a shell...'. He goes on to describe their conversations, and the arrival of the Duke of Windsor who was 'in bright spirits and not nervous at all'. Of the four sketches created that day in 1936, the Duchess had two in her house in Paris (later sold at Sotheby's New York in 1988 for £97,696 and £73,368 respectively) and the other was bought privately by a collector. In 1983, Hugo Vickers took Lady Diana Cooper to an exhibition of Beaton's pictures at Michael Parkin Fine Art. She looked at this one and said: 'Not that anyone would be interested, but that is exactly how Wallis used to stand.' On the strength of that statement, Hugo bought it. Beaton went on to have a close relationship with the Windsors, later photographing them in June 1937 the day before their wedding at Château de Candé, near Tours, France. Lot 50 shows an intimate moment taken by Beaton's assistant on that day; Mrs Simpson rests in the sun on the steps of the Château while Beaton takes a photograph. Further examples of Beaton's shots here are held at the National Portrait Gallery. This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: AR AR Goods subject to Artists Resale Right Additional Premium. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing