Willow, Santa Cruz

1930–1931

A series of one-man exhibitions, 1930–1931

The first is at Alma Reed’s Delphic Studio Gallery in New York, followed closely by the same show at the Denny Watrous Gallery in Carmel; both receive rave reviews, including a two-page article in the New York Times Magazine. Shows at the De Young Museum in San Francisco and the Galerie Jean Naert in Paris follow.

1932

The first book on his work: “The Art of Edward Weston”

The Art of Edward Weston, edited by Merle Armitage, is published, the first book devoted exclusively to Weston’s work; it is dedicated to Alice Rohrer, an admirer and patron whose $500 donation helped pay for its publication.

1932

The Group f/64 exhibition at the De Young Museum

A small group of like-minded photographers in the San Francisco area, led by Van Dyke and Ansel Adams, inspired by Weston’s show at the De Young Museum the previous year, approach the museum with the idea of a group exhibition; calling themselves Group f/64, they open a show of 80 of their prints there in November 1932, and it is a critical success.

1933

Buys a 4 × 5 Graflex camera

The new camera is much smaller and lighter than the large view camera he had used for many years; he begins taking close-up nudes of Noskowiak and other models — the smaller camera lets him interact more with them — and the nudes begin to resemble the contorted roots and vegetables he had photographed the year before.

early 1934

Meets Charis Wilson at a concert

Meeting Charis Wilson at a concert, he is immediately captivated by her beauty and personality, even more than with his previous lovers; a new and important chapter opens in his life. He writes that a new and most beautiful love has come into his life, one that he believes will stand the test of time.

August 1935

Charis Wilson agrees to live with him

Weston had implored Charis Wilson to come and live with him, and in August 1935 she finally agrees. Of all the women he has lived with since Flora, she is the first with no interest in becoming a photographer; this lets him concentrate on her as his muse and model, while Wilson devotes her time to promoting his art as his assistant and quasi-agent.