Brett Weston

on a large, early buff mount, signed, dated, and annotated ‘Califorinia [sic]’ by the photographer in pencil on the mount, 1927

This early Brett Weston photograph is printed on double-weight paper with a matte surface and slightly warm tones. There are three small rust-colored deposits, of indeterminate nature, visible in the topmost book cover. The photograph is pulling away from its mount in several places, most noticeably in the lower right quadrant. There is some minor wear on the print's edges and corners. The mount is brittle, somewhat soiled, and appropriately age-darkened. A small portion of the lower left and upper right mount corners are missing. There is a crack in the mount just below where Weston has written "Califorinia [sic]." There are pinholes in the four mount corners.
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 very early Brett Weston still life is among the earliest of the photographer’s works extant.  Dated ‘1927’ on the mount, the picture would have been made when Weston was sixteen years old.  Even this early photograph exemplifies the strong design aspect so characteristic of Brett Weston’s later, more famous work.  As Van Deren Coke has written, ‘His teenage photographs are sufficiently complex to earn our immediate respect, so fully developed are they from the standpoint of formal coherence.  His were also often virtuoso performances when it came to setting up cadences that gave vitality to the still objects he preferred’ (Master Photographer, unpaginated). 

Twenty photographs by Brett Weston were shown in the influential Film und Foto exhibition in Stuttgart in 1929.  Brief titles of the photographs were listed in the exhibition catalogue, and Number 745 by Brett Weston, entitled ‘Bücher,’ may well be the image offered here. 

Only one other early print of this image has appeared at auction, in these rooms in October 1998.  Like the present photograph, that print was also a matte-surface gelatin silver print, affixed to a large, early buff mount.  A lower corner of that print’s mount was missing, however, eradicating a portion of the date.  The print offered here carries the full date in Weston’s hand.