Nude

1934

Not on view

Returned to lender

This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.

The nude as a subject for the camera would occupy Edward Weston’s attention for four decades, and it is a defining characteristic of his achievement and legacy. This physically small but forceful, closely cropped photograph is a study of the writer Charis Wilson. Although presented headless and legless, Wilson tightly crosses her arms in a bold power pose. Weston was so stunned by Wilson when they first met that he ceased writing in his diary the day after he made this photograph: “April 22 [1934], a day to always remember. I knew now what was coming; eyes don’t lie and she wore no mask...I was lost and have been ever since.” Wilson and Weston immediately moved in together and married five years later.

Artwork Details

Overview

Exhibition History

Title: Nude
Artist: Edward Weston (American, Highland Park, Illinois 1886–1958 Carmel, California)
Date: 1934
Medium: Gelatin silver print
Dimensions: Image: 3 5/8 in. (9.2 cm)
Framed: 16 × 16 in. (40.6 × 40.6 cm)
Classification: Photographs
Credit Line: Promised Gift of Ann Tenenbaum and Thomas H. Lee, in celebration of the Museum’s 150th Anniversary
Curatorial Department: Photographs