Nude (Charis, Santa Monica)
Encyclopedia
Nude is a photograph taken by Edward Weston
in 1936. It shows an apparently nude woman with her arms wrapped around her legs while she sits on a blanket in bright sunlight against a darkened doorway. The dynamic balance of the light and dark accentuate the curves and angles of the woman's body; at the same time her face and all but the slightest hint of her pubic area are hidden from view, requiring the viewer to concentrate on her arms, legs, feet and hands. It is an image of a nude that concentrates solely on the forms of the body rather than the sexuality. The model was his muse and assistant, Charis Wilson
, whom he married a year later.
years of the early 1930s were hard on Weston, who, in spite of his relative fame, struggled to make ends meet. In early 1935 he closed his studio in Glendale and moved into a house with his three sons Brett
, Cole
and Kim
at 446 Mesa Road in Santa Monica
, California. The house was a modest two-bedroom bungalow, with not much personal space for the four of them. Even so, later that year he asked Wilson to join him, and she soon moved in. All five managed to live in the same space for several years.
Weston and Wilson claimed the master bedroom, which included a large sundeck looking westward the ocean and the sun. It was there that he photographed Wilson, who posed on a wool blanket because the silver-painted deck surface in the sun was too hot against her bare skin. Later she recalled:
Unlike many of Weston's earlier images, he left no indication of his intentions or feelings about this particular photograph. For many years he had kept an extensive journal about his photography that he called his Daybooks, but he abruptly stopped writing in them two years before this image was taken. Later he wrote "I laughingly blame Ch[aris] for cramping my style as a writer ‒ and there may be some truth in this charge ‒ but the fact is that I have not had much time, nor necessary aloneness for keeping an intimate journal."
Regardless of what he felt at the time, the image has since become one of his most published photographs and one of the icons of 20th century photography.
wrote that in this image Weston "used light like a chisel. The light he loves best is almost axial with the lens ‒ the same light-angle at which a new photographer's flash flattens faces and collapses space with its fake shadows. Here the luminous flesh rounds out the of shadow, and the shadow itself, from subtle recession to deep void, is as active and potent as the light."
Another observer wrote, "In the portrait Charis is posing nude…Weston manages to convey her nudity as a form of art. He is able to capture the emotional side of Charis as well as set a calming sense of emotion for viewers of this piece of art. The way the light cascades upon her forms shadows in order to help contour and frame her body, exemplifying the delicate features of her body as a whole. Weston uses both a simple background and foreground in order to draw attention to the main image (Charis).
Some writers have observed that in his photos of Wilson, Weston transformed his vision of nudes. Prior to this, most of his figure studies had been of fragments of bodies ‒ a torso, breasts, hips, legs ‒ isolated from the complete being. With this image "he went from shooting an anonymous body to shooting a woman—and the images of that woman, quietly posed or splayed in sand dunes, were iconic."
Because of the extreme contrast between the bright sun on skin and the dark shadows of the doorway, prints from this negative required both burning and dodging. In an extensive description of what Weston did to produce a final print of this image, his son Cole Weston
said all of the shadows on the body, especially on her right arm (seen on the left in the image), had to be held back (lightened), while the blanket on the right side of the print had to be burned in (darkened). Each print would then have to be carefully examined as it developed in the darkroom to make sure just there was just the right balance between the light and dark areas.
Copies of the print today are in the Art Institute of Chicago
, Center for Creative Photography
George Eastman House
, J. Paul Getty Museum
, Milwaukee Art Museum
, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
, Norton Simon Museum
, and the University of California at Santa Cruz
A print originally created in 1936 by Weston sold at auction in 2009 for $109,800.
Edward Weston
Edward Henry Weston was a 20th century American photographer. He has been called "one of the most innovative and influential American photographers…" and "one of the masters of 20th century photography." Over the course of his forty-year career Weston photographed an increasingly expansive set of...
in 1936. It shows an apparently nude woman with her arms wrapped around her legs while she sits on a blanket in bright sunlight against a darkened doorway. The dynamic balance of the light and dark accentuate the curves and angles of the woman's body; at the same time her face and all but the slightest hint of her pubic area are hidden from view, requiring the viewer to concentrate on her arms, legs, feet and hands. It is an image of a nude that concentrates solely on the forms of the body rather than the sexuality. The model was his muse and assistant, Charis Wilson
Charis Wilson
Helen Charis Wilson , most widely known as a subject of Edward Weston's photographs, was a model and writer.-Early life:...
, whom he married a year later.
Making the photograph
The Great DepressionGreat Depression in the United States
The Great Depression began with the Wall Street Crash of October, 1929 and rapidly spread worldwide. The market crash marked the beginning of a decade of high unemployment, poverty, low profits, deflation, plunging farm incomes, and lost opportunities for economic growth and personal advancement...
years of the early 1930s were hard on Weston, who, in spite of his relative fame, struggled to make ends meet. In early 1935 he closed his studio in Glendale and moved into a house with his three sons Brett
Brett Weston
Brett Weston was an American photographer and grew up in LA. He was the second son of photographer Edward Weston. Van Deren Coke, former curator of the San Francisco Museum of Art referred to Brett Weston as the "child genius of American photography." Brett began taking photographs in 1925 and...
, Cole
Cole Weston
Cole Weston was the youngest son of photographer Edward Weston and brother of photographer Brett Weston. He dedicated his life to photography and the theater....
and Kim
Kim Weston
Kim Weston is an American soul singer, and Motown alumna. In the 1960s, Weston scored hits with the songs "Love Me All the Way" and "Take Me in Your Arms ".-Career:...
at 446 Mesa Road in Santa Monica
Santa Mônica
Santa Mônica is a town and municipality in the state of Paraná in the Southern Region of Brazil.-References:...
, California. The house was a modest two-bedroom bungalow, with not much personal space for the four of them. Even so, later that year he asked Wilson to join him, and she soon moved in. All five managed to live in the same space for several years.
Weston and Wilson claimed the master bedroom, which included a large sundeck looking westward the ocean and the sun. It was there that he photographed Wilson, who posed on a wool blanket because the silver-painted deck surface in the sun was too hot against her bare skin. Later she recalled:
- I sat in the bedroom doorway with the room in a shadow behind me. Even then the light was almost overpoweringly bright. When I ducked my head to avoid looking at it, Edward said "Just keep it that way." He was never happy with the shadow on my right arm, and I was never happy with the crooked hair part and the bobby pins. But when I see the picture unexpectedly, I remember most vividly Edward examining the print with a magnifying glass to decide if the few visible pubic hairs would prevent him from shipping it through the mails.
Unlike many of Weston's earlier images, he left no indication of his intentions or feelings about this particular photograph. For many years he had kept an extensive journal about his photography that he called his Daybooks, but he abruptly stopped writing in them two years before this image was taken. Later he wrote "I laughingly blame Ch[aris] for cramping my style as a writer ‒ and there may be some truth in this charge ‒ but the fact is that I have not had much time, nor necessary aloneness for keeping an intimate journal."
Regardless of what he felt at the time, the image has since become one of his most published photographs and one of the icons of 20th century photography.
Observations
Photography historian Nancy NewhallNancy Newhall
Nancy Wynne Newhall was an American photography critic. She is best known for writing the text to accompany photographs by Ansel Adams and Edward Weston, but was also a widely published writer on photography, conservation, and American culture.Newhall was born Nancy Wynne in Lynn, Massachusetts,...
wrote that in this image Weston "used light like a chisel. The light he loves best is almost axial with the lens ‒ the same light-angle at which a new photographer's flash flattens faces and collapses space with its fake shadows. Here the luminous flesh rounds out the of shadow, and the shadow itself, from subtle recession to deep void, is as active and potent as the light."
Another observer wrote, "In the portrait Charis is posing nude…Weston manages to convey her nudity as a form of art. He is able to capture the emotional side of Charis as well as set a calming sense of emotion for viewers of this piece of art. The way the light cascades upon her forms shadows in order to help contour and frame her body, exemplifying the delicate features of her body as a whole. Weston uses both a simple background and foreground in order to draw attention to the main image (Charis).
Some writers have observed that in his photos of Wilson, Weston transformed his vision of nudes. Prior to this, most of his figure studies had been of fragments of bodies ‒ a torso, breasts, hips, legs ‒ isolated from the complete being. With this image "he went from shooting an anonymous body to shooting a woman—and the images of that woman, quietly posed or splayed in sand dunes, were iconic."
Technical aspects
Weston took the photo using his 8 X 10 Ansco view camera with a Zeiss 21 cm lens. Like all of his photos, he made a single exposure of the image.Because of the extreme contrast between the bright sun on skin and the dark shadows of the doorway, prints from this negative required both burning and dodging. In an extensive description of what Weston did to produce a final print of this image, his son Cole Weston
Cole Weston
Cole Weston was the youngest son of photographer Edward Weston and brother of photographer Brett Weston. He dedicated his life to photography and the theater....
said all of the shadows on the body, especially on her right arm (seen on the left in the image), had to be held back (lightened), while the blanket on the right side of the print had to be burned in (darkened). Each print would then have to be carefully examined as it developed in the darkroom to make sure just there was just the right balance between the light and dark areas.
Prints
All prints of this image are on silver gelatin paper. Weston is thought to have made about a dozen prints of this image himself; later he authorized Cole to print additional copies. The later are stamped "Negative by Edward Weston. Printed by Cole Weston." As with all of Weston's images, the prints are contact images made directly from the negative. The original prints measure 9 1/2" x 7 9/16" (24.2 x 19.3 cm).Copies of the print today are in the Art Institute of Chicago
Art Institute of Chicago
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago is one of America's largest accredited independent schools of art and design, located in the Loop in Chicago, Illinois. It is associated with the museum of the same name, and "The Art Institute of Chicago" or "Chicago Art Institute" often refers to either...
, Center for Creative Photography
Center for Creative Photography
The Center for Creative Photography , established in 1975 and located on the University of Arizona campus, is a research facility and archival repository containing the full archives of over sixty of the most famous American photographers including those of Edward Weston, Harry Callahan and Garry...
George Eastman House
George Eastman House
The George Eastman House is the world's oldest museum dedicated to photography and one of the world's oldest film archives, opened to the public in 1949 in Rochester, New York, USA. World-renowned for its photograph and motion picture archives, the museum is also a leader in film preservation and...
, J. Paul Getty Museum
J. Paul Getty Museum
The J. Paul Getty Museum, a program of the J. Paul Getty Trust, is an art museum. It has two locations, one at the Getty Center in Los Angeles, California, and one at the Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, California...
, Milwaukee Art Museum
Milwaukee Art Museum
The Milwaukee Art Museum is located on Lake Michigan in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.Beginning around 1872, multiple organizations were founded in order to bring an art gallery to Milwaukee, as the city was still a growing port town with little or no facilities to hold major art exhibitions...
, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art is an art museum in Kansas City, Missouri, known for its neoclassical architecture and extensive collection of Asian art....
, Norton Simon Museum
Norton Simon Museum
The Norton Simon Museum is an Art Museum located in Pasadena, California, United States. It was previously known by the names: the Pasadena Art Institute and the Pasadena Art Museum.-Overview:...
, and the University of California at Santa Cruz
A print originally created in 1936 by Weston sold at auction in 2009 for $109,800.