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Edward Weston's Book of Nudes
In 1953 the writer and curator Nancy Newhall assembled, with the cooperation of the photographer Edward Weston, a mock-up for an elegant book featuring Weston's photographs of the nude. It was the only book on this subject that Weston himself participated in creating. The sample book
intersperses landscapes and still lifes with nude studies and includes an essay written by Newhall on the artist's aesthetic. The proposal was rejected in the 1950s, however, by publishers of fine art photographs, who were reluctant to address the subject. In 1985 the mock-up was acquired by the J.
Paul Getty Museum with some pages and prints missing, yet it was only in 2006 that curator Brett Abbott recognized the key to reconstructing the unpublished book in its entirety. Now, in association with the Center for Creative Photography in Tucson, Arizona, the Getty has finally been able to
realize Newhall and Weston's vision. The present volume has been produced with distinctions of paper and ink to indicate those elements that have been added-including a preface by the curator and thumbnail reproductions of the mock-up as it now exists-and those elements that were part of the
original, including Newhall's essay and all thirty-nine photographs, arranged on the pages as Newhall and Weston had placed them.
intersperses landscapes and still lifes with nude studies and includes an essay written by Newhall on the artist's aesthetic. The proposal was rejected in the 1950s, however, by publishers of fine art photographs, who were reluctant to address the subject. In 1985 the mock-up was acquired by the J.
Paul Getty Museum with some pages and prints missing, yet it was only in 2006 that curator Brett Abbott recognized the key to reconstructing the unpublished book in its entirety. Now, in association with the Center for Creative Photography in Tucson, Arizona, the Getty has finally been able to
realize Newhall and Weston's vision. The present volume has been produced with distinctions of paper and ink to indicate those elements that have been added-including a preface by the curator and thumbnail reproductions of the mock-up as it now exists-and those elements that were part of the
original, including Newhall's essay and all thirty-nine photographs, arranged on the pages as Newhall and Weston had placed them.
- GenresPhotographyArt
96 pages, Hardcover
First published September 10, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review
July 8, 2019
This is a beautifully-produced and printed book that ended up being, well, a little disappointing. You've read the introductory material, right? I think what happened is, the photos were selected with 1950s sensibilities, so that the book could be published then. As you know now, it wasn't published until 2007. So the 1950s editors kind of pulled their punches, with abstract partial bodies and a few of Weston's related photos (shells and peppers). And a lot of my favorite Weston nudes didn't make it into the book. Too sexy? Here's a famous one that was left out: http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/e... (click on photo to enlarge)
Regardless, as a book this is absolutely top-notch: beautiful design, tight, clean binding, beautiful reproductions. But it wasn't the book I was hoping for. 3.5 stars, rounded down for timidity.
Regardless, as a book this is absolutely top-notch: beautiful design, tight, clean binding, beautiful reproductions. But it wasn't the book I was hoping for. 3.5 stars, rounded down for timidity.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review