Edward Weston

mounted, initialed, dated, and inscribed with a copyright symbol by the photographer in pencil on the mount, numbered (partially obscured) and inscribed with the Limited Editions Club copyright by him and numbered in unidentified hands in pencil and with a typed label, quoting Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass, on the reverse, matted, 1941 

The photographer to his sister, Mary Weston Seaman

By descent to her daughter, Jeannette Seaman

By descent to her nephew, John W. Longstreth

The Dayton Art Institute, Edward Weston's Gifts to His Sister, January - March 1978, and traveling to:

New York, International Center of Photography, July - September 1978; and

The Oakland Museum, February - March 1979

The Dayton Art Institute, Edward Weston: A Photographer's Love of Life, February - July 2004, and traveling to:

Oregon, Portland Art Museum, September - November 2004

Omaha, Joslyn Art Museum, January - April 2005; and

Rochester, George Eastman House, April - September 2005

This print:

Kathy Kelsey Foley, Edward Weston's Gifts to His Sister (The Dayton Art Institute, 1978, in conjunction with the exhibition), p. 55

Alexander Lee Nyerges, Edward Weston: A Photographer's Love of Life (The Dayton Art Institute, 2004, in conjunction with the exhibition), pl. 69

Other prints of this image:

Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass, with illustrations by Edward Weston, the Paddington Press reprint of the 1942 Limited Editions Club edition (New York, 1970),  facing p. 57

Jennifer A. Watts, ed., Edward Weston, A Legacy (Los Angeles: The Huntington Library, 2003, in conjunction with the exhibition), fig. 48

David Featherstone and Peter C. Bunnell, eds., EW 100: Centennial Essays in Honor of Edward Weston (The Friends of Photography, Carmel, 1986), fig. 34

This photograph, on slightly cool, semi-matte paper, is in generally excellent condition. There is a faint patina of silvering in the darkest areas of the print, a typical indication of the photograph's age. As for any print whose primary purpose was at one time publication, the surface shows a few minor scattered imperfections, largely visible only in raking light. There is slight, very faint craquelure in the upper right quadrant, visible only in raking light. There are a handful of miniscule chips along the print's edges. The photograph is on a heavy-weight, cream-colored mount that has darkened with age. On the reverse, along one vertical edge, there are the remains of paper and adhesive, likely from a sheet of paper overlay that was at one time attached. There is also a paper remnant along the bottom edge, on the reverse, where a caption may have been attached. Portions of two old linen hinges on the reverse cover the photographer's negative number and part of the typed label. The negative number reads '5W P.' It is likely that the covered portion of the number would be an additional number, which would be consistent with the numbering of other prints from the 'Leaves of Grass' series.
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.
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The label reads:

'Starting from Paumanok:

'#18)  "See the strong and quick locomotive as it de-

'parts, panting, blowing the steam-whistle,"...W'

As part of their cross-country travels, Edward Weston and Charis Wilson took an extended trip to New Orleans in 1941.  From there they headed north to Mississippi and Tennessee.  In the photograph offered here, Weston has captured the sprawling approach to Nashville's Gothic Revival railroad station.  At its peak in the 1940s, Union Station was a bustling transportation hub with countless trains passing through on a daily basis.  Weston is known to have made several different photographs from this spot: a more closely cropped version, in which Union Station is centrally framed (Conger 1638), and two longer views, with long white wall and winding tracks, that were taken with a wide lens.  The present photograph is one of these latter, wider views, encompassing the many trains and tracks making their way to the late Victorian station that is crowned with a statue of the Roman god Mercury.

Designated a historic landmark in 1977, the turn-of-the-century station has been fully restored and turned into a luxury hotel. 

This image was published in the Leaves of Grass volume.   Conger locates only one other print of this image, in the Huntington Library, San Marino, California.