Edward Weston 1886-1958

mounted, initialed and dated by the photographer in pencil on the mount, signed and dated by the photographer and inscribed '2S 1927' in an unidentified hand in pencil on the reverse, matted, 1927, probably printed in the 1940s

The photographer to Jean Kellogg

Acquired from the above by her cousins Abraham and Regula Melden in the 1950s

By descent to the present owner

Other prints of this image:

Conger F.2

Nancy Newhall, ed., The Daybooks of Edward Weston, Volume II, California (Aperture, 1973), pl. 1

Ben Maddow, Edward Weston: Fifty Years (Aperture, 1973), p. 145

Jennifer A. Watts, ed., Edward Weston: A Legacy (Los Angeles: The Huntington Library, 2003, in conjunction with the exhibition), pl. 1

Susan Danly and Weston J. Naef, Edward Weston in Los Angeles (Los Angeles: The Huntington Library and Art Gallery, 1986, in conjunction with the exhibition), fig. 31

Kathy Kelsey Foley, Edward Weston's Gifts to His Sister (Dayton Art Institute, 1978, in conjunction with the exhibition), p. 44

Judith Hochburg, Sarah Lowe, Michael Mattis, and Dody Weston Thompson, Edward Weston: Life Work (Revere, 2004), pl. 36

Manfred Heiting, ed., Edward Weston (Köln, 2004), p. 104

This luminous print, on paper with a surface sheen, is in generally very good condition. It has the characteristics of a print made by Weston in the 1940s--a print with a somewhat glossy surface mounted to thin, cream-colored board that has been initialed and dated by the photographer, rather than fully signed. At the lower right corner, a tiny piece of emulsion is missing from the corner's tip. At the left edge, there is a tiny nick in the emulsion. When examined in raking light, some silvering is evident at the periphery, as well as minor faint surface scratches, particularly at the left side. In the lower right quadrant in the dark area below the shell, there is a 1/8-inch linear mark that appears to be original retouching that is slightly lighter than the area around it. The mount is cream-colored thin board that exhibits age-darkening at the periphery and a 1/4-inch area of sunning around the periphery of the photograph. There is a 12-by-1 1/4-inch deposit of what appears to be adhesive remains on the front of the mount at the top edge. On the right of the mount, there is a circular area of slight darkening that is about the size of a pencil eraser. On the reverse of the mount, there is light soiling and age-darkening at the periphery.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

This photograph, and those in Lots 180 through 183, come originally from the collection of painter and printmaker Jean Kellogg (1910-1995). Born in Berkeley and educated at Yale, Kellogg continued her studies at the Art Students League in New York, and through courses offered at the Corcoran Gallery School and Phillips Memorial Gallery in Washington, D. C.

In 1931, Kellogg moved to her family's summer home in the Carmel Highlands, where she began her long apprenticeship with maritime artist Paul Dougherty and became Edward Weston's friend and neighbor.  As part of Weston's artistic circle in the 1930s and 1940s,  Kellogg posed for portraits by Weston's lover Sonya Noskowiak and appeared in several photographs by Weston, most notably Exposition of Dynamic Symmetry (Conger 1724), which was taken at her studio. Just prior to the dissolution of their marriage in 1945, Weston produced his last nude portraits of second wife, Charis Wilson, at the Big Sur cabin that Kellogg shared at the time with Doug Short. As a sign of affection for Kellogg, the photographer named one of his cats, Kelly, for her.  Weston friend and supporter Merle Armitage designed a 1956 edition of Robinson Jeffers's 1929 poem, The Loving Shepherdess, for which Jean Kellogg was the volume's illustrator.

Jean Kellogg married cartoonist and children's book author James Dickie in 1960. They collaborated on the 1988 volume, Design the Natural Way.  Kellogg continued her artistic endeavors, and subsequently ran an art gallery in Monterey, where she died in 1995.

Weston's negative log at the Center for Creative Photography in Tucson records that, of the projected edition of 50, only 16 prints were made from this negative (2S).