The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 13, 2025

Heaped Black Ollas, Oaxaca

1926

Edward Weston

(American, 1886–1958)
United States
gelatin silver print
Image: 19.1 x 24.1 cm (7 1/2 x 9 1/2 in.)
Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund 2018.3
© Center for Creative Photography, Arizona Board of Regents / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Location: Not on view

Description

In this image taken in the market in Oaxaca, Mexico, Weston converts a haphazard heap of pots into a rhythmic composition that alternates brightly lit, volumetric spheres with dark, flat circles. He glories in the variations and imperfections of these pots, which he avidly collected and described as “so pure, strong—purely Indian.”
  • Tannenbaum, Barbara. “Acquisitions 2018: Photography.” Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine vol. 59, no. 2 (March/April 2019): 24-25. Reproduced: P. 25; Mentioned: P. 24. archive.org
  • {{cite web|title=Heaped Black Ollas, Oaxaca|url=false|author=Edward Weston|year=1926|access-date=13 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2018.3