Label Text
Edward Weston was a major figure in American Modernism and photography, creating landscapes, still lifes, 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 an ambiguous backdrop, but its curves added 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. This specific photograph, Pepper No. 30 is widely considered to be the pinnacle of the series. Weston’s ability to capture shadow and light transforms a humble pepper into something resembling the human form, and an object of unique beauty.
Published ReferencesOther editions of Pepper No. 30 can be found in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and Minneapolis Institute of Art, and the Reina Sofia in Madrid, among many others.
Other editions of China Cove, Point Lobos are in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the George Eastman Museum, the Nelson-Atkins, and many others.
Conger, Amy. Edward Weston: Photographs from the Collection of the Center for
Creative Photography, 1992
Published ReferencesOther editions of Pepper No. 30 can be found in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and Minneapolis Institute of Art, and the Reina Sofia in Madrid, among many others.
Other editions of China Cove, Point Lobos are in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the George Eastman Museum, the Nelson-Atkins, and many others.
Conger, Amy. Edward Weston: Photographs from the Collection of the Center for
Creative Photography, 1992
Printer
Cole Weston
DimensionsBoard: 15 x 13 1/8 in. (38.1 x 33.3 cm)
Image: 9 1/4 x 7 3/8 in. (23.5 x 18.7 cm)
Image: 9 1/4 x 7 3/8 in. (23.5 x 18.7 cm)
Accession Number 2026.7
Classificationsphotograph
CopyrightARS
InscriptionsPEPPER, 1930 (verso u,r, graphite)
30P (verso u,l, graphite)
MarksNEGATIVE BY Edward Weston PRINT BY Cole Weston (verso center, ink)
ProvenanceCole Weston (Leiserowitz Gallery, Des Moines); Jack and Diane Robertson [purchased from the previous, 1977 -1979]; Des Moines Art Center [gift of the previous, 2026]
