Edward Weston

mounted, initialed and dated by the photographer in pencil on the mount, titled by him in pencil 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), pp. 37 and 56

Alexander Lee Nyerges, Edward Weston: A Photographer's Love of Life (The Dayton Art Institute, 2004, in conjunction with the exhibition), pl. 78

Other prints of this image:

Conger 1656

Beaumont Newhall, Supreme Instants: The Photographs of Edward Weston (Tucson: Center for Creative Photography, 1986, in conjunction with the exhibition), cat. 153, pl. 64

Manfred Heiting, ed., Edward Weston (Köln, 2004), p. 173

This print, on a slightly glossy paper, is in generally excellent condition. Upon close inspection, 3 faint, linear, streaks of transparent light brown surface soiling, are visible at the top edge of the print. The photograph is mounted to a medium-weight, cream-colored board that has been trimmed to within 3/4-inch of the photograph. The corners of the mount are lightly bumped, and there are two one-inch strips of shiny adhesive tape adhered to the bottom edge. On the reverse, two small pieces of linen tape are adhered to the top edge.
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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Weston had met the artist Charles Sheeler in 1922.  They greatly admired one another's work and developed a lasting friendship.  Sheeler provided the introduction to the 1932 volume, the Art of Edward Weston, and had continued to correspond with Weston through the years.  When Weston made his way across the country to photograph for the Leaves of Grass project, he and Charis Wilson stopped off in Ridgefield, Connecticut, to see Sheeler and his new wife Musya Sokolova.  

During their visit, Sheeler, who knew the area well, served as Weston's guide, and they worked together for several days.  They set out to explore the vernacular architecture of Connecticut, including the many barns and silos that populate the area.  This particular image, taken in New Milford, Connecticut, shows a large white barn with two silos and a decaying fence in the foreground.  The fence is pushed forward in the picture plane and taken from a slight angle; the dark, angular shadows are contrasted to the stark white of the barn.  Sheeler photographed the same barn on the same day; unlike Weston, however, he framed the barn and silos centrally, thus obscuring much of the structure in the dark shadows of the late afternoon light (Charles Sheeler: The Photographs, fig. 71).  The similarity between the two photographs is striking, illustrating a shared interest in sharp focus and tight compositions.

Another print of this image is in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, which also holds, in the Lane Collection on deposit there, Sheeler's photograph of the same Connecticut barn.

The Weston image offered here was not published in the Leaves of Grass volume, but Weston chose to include it in his 1946 retrospective at The Museum of Modern Art.   In addition to two prints in the Edward Weston Archive at the Center for Creative Photography, Tucson, Conger locates a print in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, mentioned above; a print in the Art Institute of Chicago; and a Project Print at Santa Cruz.