Pepper

Photography and Media

1930, printed 1953/54

Edward Weston (American, 1886–1958)
printed by Brett Weston (American, 1911–1993)

As a child in 1902, Edward Weston saw an exhibition of photographs at the Art Institute, a visit that he later stated “changed my whole life.” During a three-year sojourn in Mexico, Weston developed a friendship with the painter Diego Rivera, who taught him to focus on the sculptural form of natural objects. In Pepper #30, a familiar object has been transformed into a potent presence. The curves and folds of the pepper suggest the flesh and sensuous contours of a human torso.

Status: Currently Off View
Department: Photography and Media

Artist: Edward Weston
Title: Pepper
Place: United States (Artist's nationality)
Date: Made 1930
Medium: Gelatin silver print
Inscriptions: Inscribed recto, on mount, lower right, below image, in graphite: "EW1930"; printed and typed verso, on sticker affixed to mount, center, in black ink: "The Photographs of Edward Weston / A comprehensive series of 830 photographs selected by Edward / Weston in 1953 as representative of his life’s work, and printed / under his direction by Brett Weston. / This print is one of an edition of six from the negative. / No. [typed] 30 P / Title [typed] Pepper, 1930”
Dimensions: Image/paper: 23.9 × 19.1 cm (9 7/16 × 7 9/16 in.); Mount: 40.3 × 40.1 cm (15 7/8 × 15 13/16 in.)
Credit Line: Gift of Max McGraw
Reference Number: 1959.665

Westerbeck, Colin. 1989. “Chuck Close.” Exh. cat. the Art Institute of Chicago. p. 5, fig. 2.
Matthew S. Witkovsky. 2011. “Light Years: Conceptual Art and the Photograph, 1964–1977.” Art Institute of Chicago/Yale. p. 141, fig. 9.

Art Institute of Chicago, “Photographs from the Permanent Collection,” March 20–May 30, 1976. (Miles Barth)
Chicago, Illinois, Art Institute of Chicago, “A History of Photography from Chicago Collection,” April 24–June 6, 1982.
Minneapolis, Minnesota, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, “After the Photo-Secession: American Pictorial Photography 1910-1955,” February 8-May 4, 1997; traveled to Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, Massachusetts, August 23-October 19, 1997; Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, Montgomery, Alabama, November 15, 1997-February 8, 1998; Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, New York, March 7-April 26, 1998; Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, June 27-August 30, 1998; Portland Museum of Art, Maine, October 10-December 6, 1998; William Benton Museum of Art, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, January 20-March 12, 1999; McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, Texas, August 23-October 17, 1999.
Art Institute of Chicago, “The Photographer’s Curator: Hugh Edwards at the Art Institute of Chicago, 1959-1970,” May 24-October 29, 2017. (Elizabeth Siegel)

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