In The American West

MattKing · Wednesday at 10:24 PM

Alan Edward Klein said:
Did Weston burn his house down, too? Seems strange to burn something of value that could have been left to his family.

Weston left way more of importance to his family than just a few negatives. And many artists prefer that their work not be interpreted by others.

DREW WILEY · 2025-07-31T13:36:17-0400

Edward Weston's modest acreage in Carmel astronomically exploded in value in subsequent decades. It was his son Brett who deliberately burned his negatives, not his house! Cole Weston's ex-wife owned the Weston Gallery in Carmel, always worth visiting.

Pieter12 · 2025-07-31T14:17:00-0400

Alan Edward Klein said:
Did Weston burn his house down, too? Seems strange to burn something of value that could have been left to his family.

Brett lived in Hawaii. He burnt some of his negatives, soaked some in barrels of water, punched holes in the corners and scribbled in sharpie on others. He left everything else to one of his daughters, leaving the other 4 from his first marriage out of his will.

"The primary reason he decided to destroy his negatives was that he did not want his work to be handled as his father’s had, Williams said. “He had watched the difference between the way Edward worked and how Cole printed the negatives. I think he felt that it may have been a necessary financial inheritance for his father’s sons, but the artistic compromise was something he couldn’t live with. He has always felt that the print is the final statement.”

Arthurwg · 2025-07-31T22:14:59-0400

Pieter12 said:
Brett lived in Hawaii. He burnt some of his negatives, soaked some in barrels of water, punched holes in the corners and scribbled in sharpie on others. He left everything else to one of his daughters, leaving the other 4 from his first marriage out of his will.

Who got the Porsche?

Pieter12 · 2025-07-31T22:24:15-0400

I believe Brett was partial to Corvettes. He got a new one every year.

Alan Edward Klein · 2025-07-31T22:34:36-0400

Pieter12 said:
Brett lived in Hawaii. He burnt some of his negatives, soaked some in barrels of water, punched holes in the corners and scribbled in sharpie on others. He left everything else to one of his daughters, leaving the other 4 from his first marriage out of his will.

"The primary reason he decided to destroy his negatives was that he did not want his work to be handled as his father’s had, Williams said. “He had watched the difference between the way Edward worked and how Cole printed the negatives. I think he felt that it may have been a necessary financial inheritance for his father’s sons, but the artistic compromise was something he couldn’t live with. He has always felt that the print is the final statement.”

When you're dead, you're dead. Why screw your kids and grandkids because of pride. Sound pretty narcissistic to me.

Pieter12 · 2025-07-31T22:42:43-0400

Alan Edward Klein said:
When you're dead, you're dead. Why screw your kids and grandkids because of pride. Sound pretty narcissistic to me.

He obviously didn’t care much for 4 of his 5 kids. So they were screwed anyway and the artistic integrity of his life’s work remained intact.

Mike Lopez · 2025-08-01T09:54:50-0400

"Grandpa screwed me because he didn't leave me his negatives" is quite the sense of entitlement.

What's your source for claiming he had 5 kids and a new Corvette every year? He had a daughter, Erica. Who were the other four kids? @Pieter12

Arthurwg · 2025-08-01T11:06:40-0400

Pieter12 said:
I believe Brett was partial to Corvettes. He got a new one every year.

At one time he had a wonderful 928 Porsche.

Alan Edward Klein · 2025-08-01T11:46:42-0400

Pieter12 said:
He obviously didn’t care much for 4 of his 5 kids. So they were screwed anyway and the artistic integrity of his life’s work remained intact.

Nice guy. He thought more of his pictures than his kids.

Pieter12 · 2025-08-01T11:49:08-0400

Mike Lopez said:
"Grandpa screwed me because he didn't leave me his negatives" is quite the sense of entitlement.

What's your source for claiming he had 5 kids and a new Corvette every year? He had a daughter, Erica. Who were the other four kids? @Pieter12

Kim Weston told me about the Corvettes. The four children are misinformation from the internet. I should be more diligent.

Mike Lopez · 2025-08-01T11:51:53-0400

Pieter12 said:
Kim Weston told me about the Corvettes. The four children are misinformation from the internet. I should be more diligent.

Thanks for acknowledging that error. The internet is a hell of a place. (And now Alan is all worked up into a lather over misinformation...ha)

DREW WILEY · 2025-08-01T11:56:35-0400

Just think of the value of inheriting prints which don't have endless clones or restrikes from a different hand. Brett was an extraordinary printmaker. I could spot a print of his from clear across a room just by its "glow", so to speak. Of course, at the present time scans have been made of his prints, and high quality press reproductions of certain famous images are generaged in quantity for sale; but that's just a step above what we already had in book reproductions, and none of it constitutes new silver prints. His favorite paper itself - the original version of Seagull G - hasn't been made for a long time; and yes, in his case, it made a real difference.

Speaking of personal lifestyles is a tangent - think of the selfishness of any number of them, like Stieglitz. Someone still has the right to control the visual integrity of their own work. Stieglitz claimed there is only one best print of anything. I once saw an exhibition of those master prints, and they did have a very special personal feel which only Stieglitz himself could have rightly adjudicated.

Vaughn · 2025-08-01T12:33:10-0400

I was able to see Brett show his work a couple of times -- small groups of students. And he only showed the work -- no verbal info and no questions allowed. Very cool. He had stopped by the university on his way back south after visiting a brother who lived a few hours east. He almost 'harvested' one of the female students to return to Hawaii with him to be his assistant.

Brett's burning of his negatives just made the remaining negatives (and prints) more valuable. A smart business/PR move. I hope to leave my boys a couple portfolios each, with the negatives tossed in the portfolio boxes. I'll let them worry about them. I have sold a few prints, so who knows how long they'll be out and about in the world.

I once saw an exhibition of those master prints, and they did have a very special personal feel which only Stieglitz himself could have rightly adjudicated.

For me, this demonstrates the importance of the personal connection between the image and the print.

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