Label TextEdward Weston is a major figure in American Modernism and photography, creating landscapes, still life, and figurative images that display technical mastery of the photographic medium while pushing simple compositions towards abstraction. Over four days in August of 1930, Weston photographed several green peppers, using a metal bowl as a background. The curved surface not only provided a mysterious backdrop, but its curves added even more depth to Weston’s already rich composition. The Peppers would become a signature body of work for the artist, becoming some of the most iconic American photographs of all time. Weston’s ability to capture shadow and light as well as knowing which details to spotlight transforms a humble pepper into something resembling the human form, and an object of unique beauty.
Printer
Cole Weston
DimensionsBoard: 15 x 13 in. (38.1 x 33 cm)
Image: 9 3/8 x 7 1/2 in. (23.8 x 19.1 cm)
Image: 9 3/8 x 7 1/2 in. (23.8 x 19.1 cm)
Accession Number 2025.33
Classificationsphotograph
CopyrightARS
SignedEdward Weston Print by Cole Weston (on mat l,r, pen)
InscriptionsPepper, 1930 35 P (on mat l,l, pen)
PEPPER, 1930 (verso u,r, graphite)
35 P (verso u,l, graphite)
MarksNEGATIVE BY Edward Weston (verso center, stamp/pen)
PRINT BY Cole Weston (verso center, stamp/graphite)
ProvenanceJack and Diane Robertson; Des Moines Art Center [gift from the previous, 2025]
