[Leica] Weston show

["Lee, Jonathan" <Jonathan.Lee@hrcc.on.ca>]

LUGers,

I just got back from Clevland and the Weston show.  Thank you for your
suggestions on camera stores in Cleveland, but it was freezing cold and SWBO
(She Who Must Be Obeyed) put her hands on her hips and said words to the
effect: "There is no way that you are dragging me into another camera store
on a day like today." 

For those going to Clevland from Canada, driivng time one way is 4hrs from
Hamilton including one pit and one customs stop. We made it a long day trip
and had a pretty good time.  Traffic along the I90 moves at about 120km/hr.

I was very pleased with the Weston exhibit.  I am quite familiar with
Weston's work so I was very pleased indeed to see the prints.  Whenever I
see art for the first time that I have seen in art books I am nearly always
underwhelmed by images that I've looked at over and over again.  Not
surprisingly, I was a little disappointed with peppers and some of the
smaller protraits, the printing (or illumination) was a trifle too dark for
my tastes.  The other bad thing was that the prints were a little too
crowded for my tastes. Granted, none of them were larger than ~11x14
mounted, but I thought more space between them was in order.  Another thing
that annoyed me was the lack of interpretative treatment of the Weston
works.  The curator should have put more info on the walls on Weston and his
innovative school of photography.

In any event, I was generally happy with the exhibition (it goes untill end
of the month: see www.clemusart.com).  I was terrifically pleased with the
small abstract nudes that I hadn't seen before. The hollywood prints were
really snappy and while I hadn't liked them from Weston's books, they
certainly looked great in the flesh.  The kelp prints also look great, their
subtelty is most certainly lost in the ink printing process.  The
platinum/palladium prints were pretty nice as well, even thoguh I generally
think of Weston as a deep black photographer.  This exhibit is a must see
for Weston fans.  It was a worthwhile trip for me, certainly inspirational.
I might just try some amdiol in the future.  The other thing that I found
inspiring was the fact that these marvelous prints were made with lousy
optics (by modern standards).  It gives me pause to wonder about the emrits
of sinking serious $$ into optics.

The museuem is extremely photogenic.  The Asian sculp[utre gallery is truly
outstanding. 

For those who are interested in other forms of art:
Asian scuplture: the collection of early South Asian work is fantastic.
Other sculputure (Gothic, Romanesque, Greek, Roman)is middling at best.
Good Picasso, one oustanding blue period.
Decent post-impressionist, one important Gaughin, an interesting Van Gogh
and Renior, and two unusual Degas portraits.
One beautiful Sargent.
Not a bad selection of 17-18th centruy American furntiture.
Glitzy arms and armour. 

Jonathan Lee