From: Judy Seigel (jseigel@panix.com)
Date: 10/03/03-12:39:55 AM Z
On Sat, 27 Sep 2003, Greg Schmitz wrote:
> ... I thought the photograph of Charis was
> sexually charged the minute I saw it, and took that as the intention
> of both Edward and Charis. I don't think either of them hid the
> erotic nature of what they were about or up to. I don't have a copy
> of CALIFORNIA AND THE WEST at hand but as I recall Charis, in the 1st
> or 2nd paragraph, mentions that after receiving the letter awarding
> the Guggenheim they 'performed some calisthenics appropriate to the
> occasion.' I wasn't around in 1940 (or was it '41) but I suspect that
> might have been considered kind of "racy" at that time. A friend of
> mine knew, worked and partied with Charis in the late 1970's. Based
> on his accounts of her she was quite "sexual" and didn't make any
> attempt to hide it. Any misinterpretation of the image, IMHO, would
> have been by the folks who embraced Weston and his work. After all
> Nancy Newhall did much to "sanitize" Weston's writings as did others.
I would absolutely agree... My recollection of Weston's Day Books is that
they also reek sex. What was so irritating was --not just the sanitizing
(good word), the holy aura of art draped over all -- and the iteration
of plainly erotic images as if they were holy cards. If you noticed the
sexuality, you were some kind of pervert.
However, here's a funny one: I have come into the two catalogs of the
upcoming Phillips de Pury & Luxembourg auctions, October 16/17 & 18. These
are amazing in themselves, beautifully printed and fascinating
selection... many by famous people are great photos I'd never seen...
(Lacking a monograph on the photographer, often the same 2 or 3 images are
all you see.)
But there was, among several Edward Westons, one titled "Charis" -- a
closeup of one naked breast with a patch of underarm hair upper left. OK,
not exactly revolutionary, but the text tells us that there's a pencil
dedication on the photo's mount: "To Carlos from his friend Edward, 1935."
hunh?
It's 4-1/2 by 3-5/8 inches. The estimated price is $25,000 to $35,000.
The first auction is some of the Joshua P. Smith collection, the 2nd & 3rd
are individual consignments. There's an amazing Helen Levitt on the cover
of the Smith catalog -- the kid with a popsicle in one hand, pistol in the
other. The back cover is a Lee Friedlander. I'd thought his shadow
pictures verged on gimmicky... But now i wonder if it wasn't just the
reproduction. Anyway, this one is a pale shadow on a white wall, kind of
scuffed along the bottom & exquisite.
Plus hundreds more, mostly great, with however my nomination for the
sappiest photograph of all time, by of all people, Alfred Stieglitz: his
naked niece Georgia, pouting in the hole of an open window of an old
house, bare bottomed on splintery wood, leaning her head against the
jamb,, suggesting your basic headache. She's clutching 3 apples, in order,
the text tells us, to symbolize fertility. Estimated price, $150,000 to
$300,000.
Judy
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