Edward Weston (1886-1958)
Almond Blossoms, 1912
Gelatin silver print; signed and dated in ink on the image.
7 7/8 x 5 3/4 in. (20 x 14.6 cm.)

Footnotes:
Provenance
The photographer to Flora May Chandler Weston, his first wife
Gifted to Gladys Chandler Peckham Bolt, circa 1950
Thence by descent to the present owner

Literature
Karen E. Haas, Edward Weston: The Early Years, (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 2018), pl. 39

Note
When Edward Weston first picked up a camera in 1902 at the age of 16, photographers were largely working in a Pictorialist style, using labor-intensive printing processes to create soft, painterly images. Having swiftly mastered the Pictorialist aesthetic, Weston gained commercial and critical acclaim during the years he operated 'The Little Studio' in Tropico, California (1911-1922). Just one year after the studio's opening, Weston made the present image. Almond Blossoms serves as a beautiful example of Weston's early work, both as evidence of the photographer's Pictorialist foundations and as a harbinger of the 'straight photography' still-life images of shells and vegetables that would bring him wide acclaim in the 1920s and beyond.

Prints of Almond Blossoms are exceedingly scarce. At the time of this writing, the present work is believed to be the only print of this image to come to auction. A print of this image (2017.1611) and a variant (2017.3844) are in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

This warm-toned gelatin silver print with a matte surface, trimmed to the image, is in generally very good to excellent condition. Upon close examination under raking light, the following are visible: some very faint silvering at the periphery of the image in the darker areas, and some faint speckling at the left edge and in the upper portion of the image. Original retouching is visible at the right edge of the image in concentrated swaths, as well as a 2 1/2-inch line extending just above the photographer's signature. There is a sharp crease across the lower left corner and a tiny chip at the upper left corner, both visible only upon close examination. The edges are very gently worn.

On the reverse, there is some staining at the upper edge, likely due to the placement of a previous adhesive.

This print has undergone professional conservation. For a full treatment report, please contact the Photographs department directly.