Edward Weston (American, 1886-1958) Nude on Sand, Oceano

Description:

Edward Weston (American, 1886-1958)

Nude on Sand, Oceano, 1936, a later printing by Cole Weston. Stamped "NEGATIVE/BY/EDWARD WESTON/PRINT/BY" in black ink and signed "Cole Weston" in pencil on the verso of the mount at center, titled, dated, and inscribed "231N...NUDE..." in pencil on the verso of the mount u.r. Gelatin silver print mounted to board, image/sheet size 9 1/2 x 7 1/2 in. (24.1 x 19.1 cm), framed.
Condition: A few very pale fox marks to the mount.

Provenance: The Stebbins family collection, Massachusetts, purchased from Cole Weston in 1986.

N.B. In 1936, Edward Weston began a series of nudes featuring his lover and muse, Charis Wilson, in the sand dunes at Oceano, California, that are considered among his finest works. Wilson was 28 years Weston's junior and one in a long line of his lovers, but their mutual infatuation saw to it that she was his only model for the first two years of their relationship. They wed in 1939 and Wilson was instrumental in aiding Weston's career, even authoring the application for his Guggenheim Fellowship, which was awarded to him in 1937. Uninhibited, bold, and unapologetically brazen, Weston's Oceano nudes are some of the most graphic images the photographer ever produced and were shown only a few times during his life.

By 1948, Weston had retired from photography due to advanced Parkinson's disease, but two of his sons, Brett and Cole, as well as Doddy Thompson (Edward's assistant and Brett's eventual wife) continued to create prints under his guidance and after his death.
Estimate $1,200-1,800