SAN ANTONIO MUSEUM OF ART ACQUISITION OF BRETT WESTON PHOTOGRAPHS
Last week, the San Antonio Museum of Art announced the recent acquisition of fifty photographs that were donated by philanthropist and art collector, Christian Keesee. Keesee’s gift has increased the Museum’s photographic collection to more than 1,500 images. And, while this is exciting news in and of itself, I am really excited to see the work of this particular photographer. You see, the artist of the fifty donated photographs is none other than Brett Weston, son of Edward Weston. But, make no mistake, while Edward Weston may have been a teacher or mentor, Brett Weston is a celebrated photographer in his own right. In fact, his work was featured at the international exhibition Film und Foto in Germany when he was 17 years-old. Need more proof? He had a one-man museum retrospective at 21 years-old. Who does that? This pretty much tells me he was a phenom. And, he was just getting started on a career that spanned some 70 years.
Here is a little bit more about the generous donation:
In 1996, Keesee founded the Brett Weston Archive and acquired images from the Brett Weston Estate. The collection Keesee amassed is considered the most comprehensive collection of Weston’s work.
The selection of Weston’s work that was donated to the Museum dates from 1940 - 1985, and includes landscapes of the American southwest, as well as Hawaii and Mexico.
Prior to Brett Weston’s death in 1993, he was ranked as one of the top ten photographers whose work was collected by American museums.
Okay, now that we have a little bit of background, who is going to the Museum? If you visit the collection, please share your review with us in the comments.
For details about the Museum: San Antonio Museum of Art
To see some of Weston’s work: Brett Weston Archive