Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 5

Edward Weston
1S Shell

1930

$12,000
£9,272.08
€10,719.40
CA$16,956.87
A$19,018.25
CHF 9,959.57
MX$231,090.34
NOK 126,469.80
SEK 119,902.28
DKK 80,014.72

About the Item

The most iconic of the Weston shells, throughout 1927 he took twenty-six still life images of shells, including Nautilus 1927 (Museum of Modern Art, New York). His interest in nautilus shells was prompted by a 1927 meeting with the Californian painter Henrietta Shore, for whom Weston was a sitter at the time and who often featured shells in her paintings. Weston wrote in his diary of seeing these shells in her studio, stating that that he ‘never saw a Chambered Nautilus before. If I had, my response would have been immediate!’ (Weston 1966, p.21). Several months later he wrote of how his subsequent exploration of these forms had begun to consume his practice: I worked all Sunday with the shells – literally all day. Only three negatives made and two of them were done as records of movement to repeat again when I can find suitable backgrounds. I wore myself out trying every conceivable texture and tone for grounds: glass, tin, cardboard – wool, velvet, even my rubber coat! (Weston 1966, p.21.) His shells are an example of the ‘pure’ or ‘straight’ style that characterized Weston’s still life photographs. These terms first emerged in the 1880s to refer to a photographic approach that prioritized high contrast, sharp focus and an emphasis on the formal qualities of the subject, as opposed to the pictorialist tradition, in which subjects were photographically manipulated through soft focus, cropping and composite image techniques. - Tate Modern
  • Creator:
    Edward Weston (1886-1958, American)
  • Creation Year:
    1930
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 9.25 in (23.5 cm)Width: 7.25 in (18.42 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
    Printed later by Cole Weston from original neg. 3/4” scuff middle left visible in raking light; dot on overmat lower left which does not affect print. Acquired through Camera Obscura Denver in the 1980s.
  • Gallery Location:
    Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA
  • Reference Number:
    Seller: 53-00101stDibs: LU11513780302

More From This Seller

View All
2S Shell
By Edward Weston
Located in Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA
Weston created 2S after his return to America from two extended stays in Mexico between 1923 and 1927. Throughout 1927 he took twenty-six still life images of shells, including Nauti...
Category

1920s Black and White Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

2S Shell
By Edward Weston
Located in Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA
Weston created 2S after his return to America from two extended stays in Mexico between 1923 and 1927. Throughout 1927 he took twenty-six still life images of shells, including Nauti...
Category

1920s Black and White Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

14S ~ Two Shells
By Edward Weston
Located in Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA
Titled with artist's reference number and signed in pencil by Cole Weston with Edward Weston's facsimile signature on back of mount. Printed later by Edward's son, Cole Weston.
Category

1920s Black and White Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Nude ~ 237N
By Edward Weston
Located in Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA
Titled with artist's reference number and signed in pencil by Cole Weston with Edward Weston's facsimile signature on back of mount. Printed later by Edward's son Cole Weston. The We...
Category

1930s Nude Photography

Materials

Adhesive, Silver Gelatin

26N ~ Margarethe
By Edward Weston
Located in Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA
Titled with artist's reference number on back of mount. Stamped, 'Edward Weston printed by' and signed by Cole Weston on back of mount. Inscribed. Printed from the original negative by Cole Weston. Edward Weston, (1886 - 1958) Edward Weston was an American photographer, and co-founder of Group f/64. Most of his work was done using an 8 by 10 inch view camera. In 1902, he received his first camera for his sixteenth birthday, a Kodak Bull's-Eye #2, and began taking photographs in parks in Chicago and at his aunt's farm. The young Weston met with quick success, and his photographs were already being exhibited at the Chicago Art Institute merely a year later, in 1903. Weston worked mainly with nudes, still life - his shells and vegetable studies were especially important - and landscape subjects. After a few exhibitions of his works in New York, he went on to found Group f/64 in 1932 with fellow photographers Ansel Adams, Willard van Dyke...
Category

1920s Nude Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

6N ~ Nude
By Edward Weston
Located in Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA
Titled with artist's reference number on back of mount. Stamped, 'Edward Weston printed by' and signed by Cole Weston on back of mount. Printed later.
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Nude Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

You May Also Like

Two Shells, 1927 - Edward Weston (Photography)
By Edward Weston
Located in London, GB
Two Shells, 1927 - Edward Weston (Photography) Signed, titled, dated, and numbered '14S' in pencil by Cole Weston and stamped on reverse Silver gelatin pri...
Category

Early 20th Century Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Nude
By Edward Weston
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Edward Weston (1886-1958) is one of the most revered and influential pioneers of modern photography in the 20th century. Renowned for his technical prowess and artistic innovation,...
Category

1920s American Modern Nude Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

"Shell", New York, NY, 1996
By Jose Picayo
Located in Hudson, NY
This photograph is printed on Japanese Paper. The price is for an unframed photograph. 11" X 14" Edition of 25. The Robin Rice Gallery is pleased to announce, 25 Years of Polaro...
Category

1990s Contemporary Black and White Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper

Silver Nautilus, M.A
By Paul Caponigro
Located in Santa Monica, CA
Signed in pencil on mount recto Gelatin silver print Paper 10-1/4"x13-1/4",Matted 18"x22"
Category

1960s Black and White Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Charis Nude, 1934
By Edward Weston
Located in Carmel, CA
Hand printed by Edward Weston's son Cole Weston. Stamped and signed on verso. Framed with a grey mat and black wood frame. I have inspected the photograph and it is in pristine cond...
Category

1930s Black and White Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Charis Nude, 1934
$3,500 Sale Price
30% Off
Edward Weston, Mushroom, 4FU 1931
By Edward Weston
Located in Phoenix, AZ
SHIPPING CHARGES INCLUDE SHIPPING, PACKAGING & **INSURANCE** Mushroom ~ 4FU, 1931 Silver Gelatin Print Edward Weston Print signed: Cole Weston Image size: 9 1/2 × 7 1/2 in; 24.1 × ...
Category

1930s Contemporary Black and White Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper