The other day my wife and I went into Boston to see the
Titian-Tintoretto-Veronese exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts. On the way from
the Huntington Avenue entrance to the Gund Gallery we went through an exhibit
of Edward Weston's photographs, from a trip he took to Mexico in the 1920s,
accompanied by his son and his mistress, who was also a photographer. So of
course we stopped to look.
For the most part, we found the pictures disappointing. They were all B&W,
which was fine, but the prints were generally muddy and the composition
adequate but uninspired - not what you'd expect from someone of Weston's
reputation. I was in an uncharacteristically charitable mood, being in the
first day of a four-day weekend. (We Americans are celebrating the founding of
our country.) So I was quite willing to chalk it up to the relatively mediocre
state of photography in 1925.
But just before the exit from the exhibit was a picture of an aloe plant that
was nicely composed and cleanly printed; we both blurted out "Now THIS I
like!". But when we read the caption, we discovered that the picture wasn't a
Weston at all: it was the only one in the exhibit taken by his mistress! ;^)
BTW, the T-T-V exhibit is well worth seeing. Its only stop after Boston is the
Louvre; but if you live in or around Paris, you might want to check it out. It
closes here at the end of August, so should presumably be there in the fall.
Bob
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