Edward Weston

signed, titled, dated, and annotated 'No. B. 8.' (crossed out) by the photographer and annotated by Mary Weston Seaman in pencil on the reverse, matted, 1937

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. 48

Alexander Lee Nyerges, Edward Weston: A Photographer's Love of Life (The Dayton Art Institute, 2004, in conjunction with the exhibition), pl. 45

Another print of this image:

Conger 1020

This early, slightly warm-toned print, on double-weight paper with a surface sheen, is in generally very good to excellent condition. The edges are slightly rubbed, with tiny nicks at the left edge. The corners are bumped, and there is creasing in the upper corners and the lower right corner. There is very slight edge-fading that is not immediately apparent. When examined in raking light, several soft and sharp handling creases that do not break the emulsion are visible, particularly at the upper left and lower right portions of the print. These are not apparent when viewing the print under normal conditions. The notation 'EWP31' is written in an unidentified hand in pencil in the lower right corner on the reverse.
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Conger notes that Weston passed this statue in front of the Hotel Chelsea near San Fernando, just north of Los Angeles, on June 3 (Conger 1020).  Amused by the statue, he returned a few days later to photograph it.  Weston sent the print offered here to his sister, who inscribed the verso as follows: 'This is an old plaster statue which caught my brother's attentive eye and excited his sense of humor.'   

In addition to a print of this image in the Edward Weston Archive at the Center for Creative Photography, Tucson, Conger locates only one other print, a Project Print at Santa Cruz.