"Nude"

N39-M-6

gelatin silver print on cardboard

signed, titled, dated (pencil) by Cole Weston, printer stamp, numbered on portfolio lable on verso

In the spring of 1938, after a two-year Guggenheim fellowship and a related trip, Edward Weston and his then wife Charis Wilson settled in the Carmel Highlands. Neil, a son from Edward's first marriage, built a small cottage for them with just one large room, a darkroom and bathroom at one end and an attic above for storage - Wildcat Hill. The house is still owned by the Weston family today. “The first nudes that Edward made in these surroundings were of Maudelle Bass, a young Black woman who had come to Carmel to put on a program of African dances."¹
Maudelle Bass Weston (1908-1989) was an American dancer and professional nude model who had worked for Diego Rivera, Manuel Álvarez Bravo and other artists. She posed for Edward Weston for the first time in July 1939. In these nude studies, Weston shows her entire body, which blends characteristically into the natural surroundings. Weston kept 18 negatives of Maudelle, at least 12 of which have been published. Early prints of this image are very rare. This print (no. 28/100) comes from the portfolio “Desnudos”, which was published in 1972 by his son Cole Weston with the eleven greatest nude studies by Edward Weston. The prints were made according to Edward's will and Cole's instructions.
(Christoph Fuchs, translated by deepL)

Annotation

1
Charis Wilson, in: „Edward Weston Nudes“, New York, 1977, n. p.