Edward Weston
Pepper No. 30

Pepper No. 30

© 1981 Center for Creative Photography, Arizona Board of Regents

Pepper No. 30
Pepper No. 30
ArtistAmerican, 1886–1958
CultureAmerican
Titles
  • Pepper No. 30
Date1930
PlaceUnited States
MediumGelatin silver print
DimensionsImage: 9 7/16 × 7 1/2 in. (24 × 19.1 cm)
Sheet: 9 7/16 × 7 1/2 in. (24 × 19.1 cm)
Mount: 18 × 14 in. (45.7 × 35.6 cm)
Credit LineMuseum purchase funded by the Caroline Wiess Law Accessions Endowment Fund, The Manfred Heiting Collection
Object number2002.2644
Not on view

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Department
Photography
Object Type
Description

In contrast to the clinical views promoted by European
photographers associated with the New Objectivity in the late 1920s, Edward
Weston looked at nature for its poetry and metaphor. His photograph of a pepper,
twisting in the dramatic light of his studio like intertwining bodies, shows
the vegetable in all of its sensuousness. Weston once stated that the goal of
his art was to reveal “The Thing Itself
. . . to photograph a rock, have
it look like a rock, but be
more than a rock.” This idea of looking at
the symbolic meaning of form while taking “straight,” sharply focused images
was foundational for photographers favoring a more subjective approach in the
middle decades of the 20th century, particularly in the United States.



ProvenanceEx-collection Cole Weston; Sotheby's, New York; ex-collection Weston Neaf, New York.

Bought by Manfred Heiting from The Weston Gallery, Inc. on 4/19/1985.
Exhibition History"Edward Weston", Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1946; "Die Künstlichkeit des Wirklichen", Kestnergesellschaft, Hannover,1998; "La Natura della Naturamorta - da Fox Talbot ai Nostri Giorni", Galeria d'Arte Moderna, Bologna, 2001;

"American Vision: Photographers from the West, Selections from the Manfred Heiting Collection purchased by the Brown Foundation for the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston from August 23-February 1, 2004.

"Passionate Vision: Celebrating the Life and Photographic Work of Beaumont Newhall," The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Lower Brown Corridor and Coat Check Room Gallery, January 15-May 4, 2008.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Inscribed in pencil, recto of mount, bottom left below image: 22-50
Signed and dated in pencil, recto of mount, below image: Edward Weston 1930

Inscribed in pencil, verso of mount, upper left: 30P

Stamped in red, verso of mount, center: WESTON J. NAEF // [symbols - possibly Korean characters?] [yin and yang symbol in center of circle]

Inscribed in pencil by Weston Naef, verso of mount, lower right: Probably from an exhibition circulated / in Great Britain, 1938-40. / $525 / Burnside 1/73 / Sotheby's Lot

Signed and dated in pencil, recto of mount, below image: Edward Weston 1930

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

If you have questions about this work of art or the MFAH Online Collection please contact us.

Pepper No. 30
Edward Weston
1930, printed 1978
Gelatin silver print
78.107
Untitled #12
Alexandra Edwards
1990
Chromogenic print
91.560
Nude, Oceano
Edward Weston
1939
Gelatin silver print
2002.2638
Charis
Edward Weston
1934
Gelatin silver print
2002.2641
Carmelita Maracci
Edward Weston
1937
Gelatin silver print
2002.2643
Oak, Monterey County
Edward Weston
1929
Gelatin silver print
2002.2645
Zabriskie Point, Death Valley
Edward Weston
1938
Gelatin silver print
2002.2639
Cypress Root and Stone Crop, Point Lobos
Edward Weston
1930
Gelatin silver print
2002.2642
M. G. M, Hollywood
Edward Weston
1939
Gelatin silver print
2002.2636
Carmelita Maracci
Edward Weston
1937
Gelatin silver print
2002.2646
Nancy and Beaumont Newhall
Edward Weston
c. 1949
Gelatin silver print
2002.2637
Bride
Edward Weston
1920
Platinum print
2002.2647