Edward Weston, Shell and Rock Arrangement, 1931. Modern Objects, Huxley-Parlour Gallery, 3–5 Swallow St, London, W1B 4DE

Edward Weston

B. United States, 1886 – 1958

The Works

11

1

Edward Weston

Shell and Rock Arrangement

1931

Silver gelatin print, printed 1940, mounted on board

2

Edward Weston

Shell

1927

Silver gelatin print mounted to card, printed later

3

Edward Weston

Toadstool

1931

Silver gelatin print mounted to card, printed by Cole Weston

4

Edward Weston

Red Cabbage Halved

1930

Silver gelatin print, mounted to card, printed by Cole Weston

5

Edward Weston

Nude, 1934

Silver gelatin print, printed by Cole Weston c. 1975-85, mounted on card

6

Edward Weston

Nude, 1936

Silver gelatin print mounted on board, printed later by Cole Weston

7

Edward Weston

Cabbage Leaf, 1931

Silver gelatin contact print, printed by Edward Weston and Brett Weston, 1950-1, mounted on card

8

Edward Weston

Landscape, circa 1935

Silver gelatin print, printed 1960s

9

Edward Weston

Shell, 1927

Silver gelatin print, printed by Cole Weston c. 1975-85, mounted on card

10

Edward Weston

Cabbage Leaf, 1931

Silver gelatin print, printed by Cole Weston c. 1975-85, mounted on card

11

Edward Weston

Pepper, 1930

Silver gelatin print, printed by Cole Weston c. 1975-85, mounted on card

Edward Weston

B. United States1886 – 1958

Edward weston portrait

B. United States1886 – 1958

Biography

Edward Weston’s highly detailed, intimate portraits of semi-abstract nudes, landscapes and organic forms established his reputation as one of the foremost Modernist photographers in America. A founder member of Group f/64 alongside Ansel Adams and Imogen Cunningham, Weston’s preoccupation was the presentation of objective texture, rhythm and form in nature. Weston’s urge to render “the very substance and quintessence of the thing itself, whether it be polished steel or palpitating flesh” can be considered as the beginning of a tradition of West Coast artists interested in psychological implications of surface texture continuing through to the work of Ed Ruscha and the Pop artists.

Weston would state his aim as “to clearly express my feeling for life with photographic beauty, present objectively the texture, rhythm, form in nature, without subterfuge or evasion in technique or spirit, to record the quintessence of the object or element before my lens, rather than an interpretation, a superficial phase, or passing mood”. For Weston, the camera could distil the subject to an elemental pureness, stripping away any painterly pretence.

Weston became the first photographer to receive a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1936. His work has been exhibited in numerous museums and galleries including a retrospective at Les Recontres D’Arles in 1970, and at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Huntington Library, California. His work is held in the collections of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, California, the Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and the Smithsonian Institute, Washington D.C., among others.

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