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拍品專文
In 1927, not long after his return to California from Mexico, Weston became interested in the pepper as a form. The Mexican period was an important step in organizing his way of seeing. While there he began to address objects in his everyday world as potential subject matter. He focused on a gourd, a pair of hands, a bowl in the market, the face of a friend, removing it from its exterior setting and highlighting its form and detail through careful placement within the frame. In 1927 Weston remarked, "Then last eve green peppers in the market stopped me; they were amazing in every sense of the word..." (Daybooks, II, p. 37.)
1929 brought changes for Weston. In January he and Brett settled in Carmel, where he opened a studio and where with the exception of a few trips - including his travels during his Guggenheim Fellowships in 1937-39 - he would remain until his death. Early on he stated, "This new life should bring fresh stimulus to my work. Already I have sorted out ten negatives laid aside these many months to finish. And I shall be doing new work, too. I feel it in my bones!" He was working with other vegetable subjects, a cabbage, Swiss chard and a squash and soon returned to the pepper. In July 1929 he recalled, "I am working now with two green peppers of marvelous convolutions. Yesterday's negative will be finished: which indicates its value...I have been working so enthusiastically with the two peppers - stimulated as I have not been in months..." Later, in August, Weston described his recent pepper images, "They are like sculpture, carved obsidian, and can be placed with my finest expression." (Daybooks, II, pp. 107, 128-131.) It is likely that in these 1929 comments he is referring to the series which includes the image offered here. Amy Conger notes, "Weston also made at least four negatives of peppers during 1929 in which he used a clear glass plate in front of a white surface as a background." (Edward Weston: Photographs, fig. 564.)
In several respects this image departs from the often symmetrical nature of many of his vegetable studies. The lyrical accent of the pepper's swinging shadow against the curved white background lends an almost musical characteristic to the work. In many of Weston's still-life works, his subject is described almost clinically, yet here we find him presenting the object with more familiarity, as if he is finally beginning to understand the pepper's form. Its anthropomorphic mass sits upon the crazed white base, almost inviting the viewer to describe its shape, its folds and curves drawing us in for a closer investigation. The exquisite matte texture of this print enhances its inherently elegant quality, accentuating an already fully realized image. It is rare to discover prints from this period in fine condition, on matte surface paper and with such beautiful object quality as this example.
For other Weston vegetable studies sold at Christie's see: Celery Heart, 1930, 6 October 1998, lot 197; Pepper #30, 1930, 9 October 1997, lot 183; and Chard, 1927, 23 April 1996, lot 136.
1929 brought changes for Weston. In January he and Brett settled in Carmel, where he opened a studio and where with the exception of a few trips - including his travels during his Guggenheim Fellowships in 1937-39 - he would remain until his death. Early on he stated, "This new life should bring fresh stimulus to my work. Already I have sorted out ten negatives laid aside these many months to finish. And I shall be doing new work, too. I feel it in my bones!" He was working with other vegetable subjects, a cabbage, Swiss chard and a squash and soon returned to the pepper. In July 1929 he recalled, "I am working now with two green peppers of marvelous convolutions. Yesterday's negative will be finished: which indicates its value...I have been working so enthusiastically with the two peppers - stimulated as I have not been in months..." Later, in August, Weston described his recent pepper images, "They are like sculpture, carved obsidian, and can be placed with my finest expression." (Daybooks, II, pp. 107, 128-131.) It is likely that in these 1929 comments he is referring to the series which includes the image offered here. Amy Conger notes, "Weston also made at least four negatives of peppers during 1929 in which he used a clear glass plate in front of a white surface as a background." (Edward Weston: Photographs, fig. 564.)
In several respects this image departs from the often symmetrical nature of many of his vegetable studies. The lyrical accent of the pepper's swinging shadow against the curved white background lends an almost musical characteristic to the work. In many of Weston's still-life works, his subject is described almost clinically, yet here we find him presenting the object with more familiarity, as if he is finally beginning to understand the pepper's form. Its anthropomorphic mass sits upon the crazed white base, almost inviting the viewer to describe its shape, its folds and curves drawing us in for a closer investigation. The exquisite matte texture of this print enhances its inherently elegant quality, accentuating an already fully realized image. It is rare to discover prints from this period in fine condition, on matte surface paper and with such beautiful object quality as this example.
For other Weston vegetable studies sold at Christie's see: Celery Heart, 1930, 6 October 1998, lot 197; Pepper #30, 1930, 9 October 1997, lot 183; and Chard, 1927, 23 April 1996, lot 136.