Mojave Desert Clouds

1936

Brett Weston

(American, 1911–1993)

Culture

America

Medium

gelatin silver print

Measurements

Image: 19.2 x 23.9 cm (7 9/16 x 9 7/16 in.); Matted: 40.6 x 50.8 cm (16 x 20 in.)

Credit Line

John L. Severance Fund 1992.52

This artwork is known to be under copyright.

Location

Not on view

Description

Brett Weston took his first photograph in 1925 following brief instructions from his father, the avant-garde photographer Edward Weston. Two years later, Brett was working with Edward in his portrait studio in Glendale, California, and exhibiting his own fine art photographs. When Brett made this image in 1936, he was living in San Francisco on a $90-per-month stipend from the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Arts Project, producing sculpture and “creative photography.” The following year, Brett obtained commercial assignments, including jobs for Kodak and Holiday magazine, “but I did them badly. I was eager to try, because it was bread and butter, but I just couldn’t compromise.”