Circus Tent

Edward Weston

1924 · Gelatin silver print · Photographs

After meeting Alfred Stieglitz and Paul Strand on a visit to New York in 1922, Weston abandoned his early Pictorialist style for the purified formal rigor of straight photography. On March 2, 1924, Weston went with friends to attend a circus performance in Mexico and returned later to photograph the tent. He described this and one of the two other negatives he made there as "pleasant and beautiful abstractions, intellectual juggleries," and this image was cited by the painter Diego Rivera as one of his favorite prints by Weston. With its simple lines and airy upward sweep, it is easy to understand why the artists held it in such high esteem.

Artist

Edward Weston

Date

1924

Medium

Gelatin silver print

Department

Photographs

Credit line

Ford Motor Company Collection, Gift of Ford Motor Company and John C. Waddell, 1987