ferrotyped, signed and annotated 'Carmel, Calif,' and with title and number 'E-MR-1' in pencil on the reverse, framed, 1937, probably printed in the 1940s

James Danziger Gallery, New York, 1998

Charis Wilson and Edward Weston, California and the West (Aperture, 1978), p. 83

Theodore E. Stebbins, Jr., Weston's Westons: Portraits and Nudes (Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, 1989), pl. 58

Theodore E. Stebbins, Jr., Karen E. Quinn, and Leslie Furth, Edward Weston: Photography and Modernism (Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, 1999), pl. 100

Susan Danly, Jonathan Spaulding, Jessica Todd Smith, and Jennifer A Watts, ed., Edward Weston: A Legacy (San Marino: The Huntington Library, 2003), pl. 51

Anne E. Havinga, Karen E. Haas, and Nancy Keeler, MFA Highlights Photography (Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, 2008), p. 72

This early ferrotyped print is on heavy paper and is in essentially excellent condition. As is typical of ferrotyped prints, in raking light, some minor pitting and a slight uneveness of the glossy surface are visible overall. Upon very close examination, a tiny fiber is adhered to the surface in the lower portion of the image. The print is gently rubbed at its periphery, and the corners are bumped. The reverse of the print is textured and the writing in pencil appears to be lightly faded, suggesting that this print was removed from a mount. When examined under ultraviolet light, this print does not appear to fluoresce.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

This image of Charis Wilson was made in 1937, during one of Edward Weston’s Guggenheim Fellowship trips to photograph California and the West.  For years, Ansel Adams had urged Weston to visit him in Yosemite, and when he invited Wilson and Weston to join him on a 10-day excursion to the High Sierra in July of that year, they decided the time had come. 

Charis writes in her autobiography that she was not prepared for the altitude or the climate as they made their way into the high country.  By the time they reached Lake Ediza, at the base of the Minarets, she was exhausted and miserable.  Although snow was still on the ground in late July, mosquitoes were rampant.  Adams assured her that as they went higher, the mosquitoes would diminish. Even at 10,000 feet, however, they found the insects swarming.  Desperate for cover, Charis wound a thick scarf around her head and smeared lemon juice over her face, hoping it would mix with trail dust to form a repellant.  According to Weston scholar Paul Hertzmann, this photograph has also been titled ‘Charis in Mosquito Armor.’  Adams has written that his own favorite image from the trip was one he made of Weston photographing Charis in the photograph offered here.

 In her autobiography, Through Another Lens (New York, 1998), Charis remembered,

‘Edward photographed me in this getup sitting against a rock, knees akimbo, hands crossed loosely between my legs, and a look of what I know is exhaustion on my face.  One friend remarked, “You don’t do anything and come across twice as sexy”’ (p. 144).

With Charis’s frank gaze, her legs spread wide, and her hands casually placed in a strategic location, the appeal of the picture is undeniable.   As Adams’s biographer Jonathan Spaulding has stated, ‘Despite the circumstances, Edward and Charis collaborated to produce one of their subtlest and most sexually charged portraits’ (Ansel Adams and the American Landscape, p. 152).

Prints of this image are scarce.  This is believed to be the only lifetime print of the image to have appeared at auction.  Only two other early prints have been located, in the Lane Collection at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and in The Huntington Library collection, San Marino, California.