Diego Rivera, Mexico
Artist: Edward Weston (American, 1886-1958)
Date: 1924
Dimensions:
Photo: 7 1/2 x 9 1/2 in. (19.1 x 24.2 cm);
Original mount: 14 x 16 1/4 in. (35.5 x 41.2 cm)
Medium: Platinum print
Classification: Photographs
Credit Line: Purchased with funds given by an anonymous donor
Object number: 1971.143
Label Text:Edward Weston is today best known for his masterfully composed and sharply focused photographs of natural forms, landscapes, and nudes. However, this 20th-century master of black and white photography was, in his formative years, a Pictorialist—that is, his photographs were soft-focus images attempting to imitate the aesthetic quality of paintings. Working in California as a portrait photographer, Weston found success entering his Pictorialist photos into exhibitions and salons.
This image of Mexican muralist Diego Rivera (1886–1957) is an example of Edward Weston’s successful ‘soft-focus’ portrait photography, but done during a time of transition as his study of Modern art, the photographs of Paul Strand and Charles Sheeler, and his acquaintance with avant-garde photographer and gallery owner Alfred Steiglitz led him to redefine his aesthetic. Diego Rivera, Mexico signals an eventual break with the Pictorialist paradigm by its radical composition and its acceptance of the flat picture plane.
This image of Mexican muralist Diego Rivera (1886–1957) is an example of Edward Weston’s successful ‘soft-focus’ portrait photography, but done during a time of transition as his study of Modern art, the photographs of Paul Strand and Charles Sheeler, and his acquaintance with avant-garde photographer and gallery owner Alfred Steiglitz led him to redefine his aesthetic. Diego Rivera, Mexico signals an eventual break with the Pictorialist paradigm by its radical composition and its acceptance of the flat picture plane.
Not on view
In Collection(s)