Edward Weston

mounted, signed and dated by the photographer in pencil on the mount, titled by him in pencil on the reverse, matted, 1938

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), pp. 32 and 52

Alexander Lee Nyerges, Edward Weston: A Photographer's Love of Life (The Dayton Art Institute, 2004, in conjunction with the exhibition), p. 80 and pl. 52

Other prints of this image:

Conger 1311

Manfred Heiting, ed., Edward Weston (Köln, 2004), p. 193

This bright, slightly cool-toned print, is in generally excellent condition. In high raking light, three small pencil-point-sized impressions are visible at the top edge in the black support beam. These do not break the emulsion and do not detract from the overall attractive appearance of this print. Also visible in raking light are a few very small deposits of the photographer's original retouching. The photograph is mounted to a board that is slick and white on the front and dark gray on the reverse. The mount has been trimmed to 9¾ by 12 inches. A portion of the photographer's title has been trimmed at the top edge of the reverse of the mount. The corners are lightly bumped.
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.

Weston and Charis Wilson made their way from Death Valley, California, to Rhyolite, Nevada, in March of 1938.  A gold mining town, Rhyolite had seen its brief heyday in 1906, only to become defunct the following year.  Weston was fascinated by what was left of the town, referring to it as 'Nevada's Athens' (quoted in California and the West, p. 178).  Charis spoke of the town in her memoirs: 'Rhyolite was not simply a movie-style main street with boxy wooden buildings, false-fronted and flimsy.  It had begun its brief life with ambition, with tidy blocks of substantial, multistory buildings meant to last' (Through Another Lens, p. 178). 

Although still a ghost-town, local residents now maintain the ruins for photographers and filmmakers interested in making use of the site.  

Weston chose this image for inclusion in his 1946 retrospective at The Museum of Modern Art.   In addition to a print in the Edward Weston Archive at the Center for Creative Photography in Tucson, Conger locates six other prints in institutions, among them the George Eastman House, The Museum of Modern Art, the Huntington Library, the University of California at Los Angeles, and the Indiana University Art Museum at Bloomington, as well as a Project Print in Santa Cruz.