Brett Weston

mounted, signed, dated, and inscribed 'To My Favorite Auntie, Brett, 1946' by the photographer in pencil on the reverse, matted, 1946

The photographer to his aunt, Mary Weston Seaman, 1946

By descent to her daughter, Jeannette Seaman

By descent to her nephew, John W. Longstreth

Another print of this image:

U. S. Camera Annual 1953, p. 189

This early print, on paper with a surface sheen, and mounted to a thin tan mount, is in generally excellent condition. Tiny sections of dry-mounting tissue are visible in some areas at the periphery of the print, as well as two tiny pencil registration marks at the upper right corner and top center edge on the mount. The mount is slightly age-darkened and very lightly soiled on the front and back. Notations 'L84.2003.5' and 'EWP85' are written in unidentified hands in pencil on the reverse.
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.

The present photograph, Desert, Texas, was taken in 1946 while Brett Weston was stationed in El Paso, Texas.  Brett had been drafted into the army in 1941, and after a few years stationed in New York, he was transferred in 1946 to Texas.  While in El Paso, Brett photographed the White Sands National Monument, a short distance away in New Mexico.  The white dunes of gypsum sand would have attracted Brett Weston in particular, who more than a decade before had begun his extensive series of photographs of the dunes of Oceano.  The desert landscapes of both White Sands and El Paso would have provided a much-needed outlet for Brett during his final days in the army.  Unlike his earlier work at Oceano, he has focused here on the inherent abstraction of desert plants framed against the white sand.   In 1949, Brett published a portfolio of his work from White Sands, for which Nancy Newhall provided an introduction.  Newhall's description of Brett's White Sands photographs might easily refer to this Texas work as well:  'he saw a magic play of light: grasses, ghostly in their winter death, shadowing the massive, luminous dunes with silver, the spikes and bells of yucca black as jet against them.  He saw the delicate aerial structure of eerie plants reaching into the skies, the dunes gray with storm or gleaming with snow against dark distant mountains—endless absorbing variations!' (quoted in Brett Weston: Voyage of the Eye, unpaginated).