Edward Weston

mounted, initialed, dated, and inscribed with a copyright symbol by the photographer in pencil on the mount, numbered 'W35 P169' 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. 54

Alexander Lee Nyerges, Edward Weston: A Photographer's Love of Life (The Dayton Art Institute, 2004, in conjunction with the exhibition), pl. 61

Another print 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), p. 99

This photograph, on slightly cool, semi-matte paper, is in generally very good 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 scattered imperfections, including a spot or two of retouching and occasional indentations, largely visible only in raking light. There is slight, very faint craquelure along the upper edge, visible only in raking light. There are a few 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. Potions of two old linen hinges on the reverse cover a small part of the typed label.
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 label reads:

'Song of the Exposition:

'#5)  "Mightier than Egypt's tombs," et seq., to

'"Thy great Cathedral sacred industry, et seq....W 35'

Weston and Charis Wilson arrived in Port Arthur, Texas, on the Texas-Louisiana border, at the end of July 1941.  In a letter to his sister, Weston wrote excitedly about this new location: 'found unexpected goldmine of work at Gulf Oil Co., Port Arthur' (quoted in Edward Weston's Gifts to His Sister, p. 54).  He was so taken with the industrial forms of the oil refinery that they stayed for several days.  Charis remembered their time in Port Arthur, 'The towers and tanks that lined the docks were striking, unfamiliar forms. When we came to an avenue of spherical tanks of shiny aluminum, supported by brick posts and capped by winding staircases, Edward was beside himself' (Through Another Lens, p. 252).  In this tightly-cropped image, Weston focuses on the polished metallic surfaces of the tanks and the tangle of pipes, ladders, and stairs that surround them.  As is typical of Weston's photographs during his cross-country travels, this image is less about the subject at hand than its formal arrangement.

This oil refinery study was included in the Leaves of Grass volume.  At the time of this writing, the photograph offered here is the only print of this image that has been located.