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Lot Essay
In the early 1930s, Edward Weston began physically distancing himself from his photographic subjects, focusing instead on abstractions. The Oceano Dunes Natural Preserve along the coast of Southern California, provided a fitting setting for his newly awakened sensibility. Of all of Weston’s photographs from the late thirties, the images of sand dunes he made in this location represent some of his most renowned work from this prolific period at the height of his career.
In 1936, Weston and his romantic partner Charis Wilson moved to Oceano, which, at the time, was inhabited by a bohemian community, members of whom were referred to as the ‘Dunites’. It was a utopian respite to many artists, including John Cage, John Steinbeck, Upton Sinclair, and Ansel Adams. While there Weston and Charis stayed in an abandoned cabin. The varying, shifting landscape provided Weston endless inspiration and subject matter; he worked throughout the day, utilizing the shifting sunlight and deep shadows to achieve dramatic diversity of mood.
The effects, both visually and emotionally, are strikingly different, and all made within walking distance of their cabin. Weston would often rise before dawn to utilize a low-angled sun in the morning stillness. At this hour, the undulating sand dunes were dappled with dramatic shadows and highlights that lent themselves perfectly to Weston’s credence of sublimation. Weston often obscured the horizon line, creating disorienting and abstract compositions that compel viewers to focus on a sense of aesthetic balance and movement within the dunes’ elemental forms. Indeed, Weston often expressed his conviction that ‘the most “abstract” art is derived from forms in nature’ (Ben Maddow, Edward Weston: Fifty Years, Aperture, New York, 1973, p. 120).
The image in the present lot is oftentimes referred to as White Dunes and is one of two images from Weston’s Dunes series selected by photo-historians Beaumont and Nancy Newhall for inclusion in their seminal 1958 book Masters of Photography. Since then, White Dunes has been one of the most celebrated and reproduced dunes in the series. The present lot is 1940s print, mounted and initialed by the artist.
In 1936, Weston and his romantic partner Charis Wilson moved to Oceano, which, at the time, was inhabited by a bohemian community, members of whom were referred to as the ‘Dunites’. It was a utopian respite to many artists, including John Cage, John Steinbeck, Upton Sinclair, and Ansel Adams. While there Weston and Charis stayed in an abandoned cabin. The varying, shifting landscape provided Weston endless inspiration and subject matter; he worked throughout the day, utilizing the shifting sunlight and deep shadows to achieve dramatic diversity of mood.
The effects, both visually and emotionally, are strikingly different, and all made within walking distance of their cabin. Weston would often rise before dawn to utilize a low-angled sun in the morning stillness. At this hour, the undulating sand dunes were dappled with dramatic shadows and highlights that lent themselves perfectly to Weston’s credence of sublimation. Weston often obscured the horizon line, creating disorienting and abstract compositions that compel viewers to focus on a sense of aesthetic balance and movement within the dunes’ elemental forms. Indeed, Weston often expressed his conviction that ‘the most “abstract” art is derived from forms in nature’ (Ben Maddow, Edward Weston: Fifty Years, Aperture, New York, 1973, p. 120).
The image in the present lot is oftentimes referred to as White Dunes and is one of two images from Weston’s Dunes series selected by photo-historians Beaumont and Nancy Newhall for inclusion in their seminal 1958 book Masters of Photography. Since then, White Dunes has been one of the most celebrated and reproduced dunes in the series. The present lot is 1940s print, mounted and initialed by the artist.