UC Berkeley Library Update

On December 14, 1930 the photographer Edward Weston, then based in Carmel-by-the-Sea, drove to San Francisco to take portraits of a few clients, including the prominent architect Timothy L. Pflueger, who was then overseeing his firm’s remodel of the San Francisco Stock Exchange Building in the city’s financial district. The sitting with Pflueger took place at the North Beach studio of sculptor Ralph Stackpole, whose massive figurative pieces were commissioned by Pflueger to adorn the facade of the Exchange. Coincidentally residing with Stackpole at the time was Mexican artist Diego Rivera — also commissioned by Pflueger, to create a mural inside the Exchange. Accompanying Rivera was his young wife, the artist Frida Kahlo, who was early in her career and not yet known outside of Mexico. Weston was already acquainted with Rivera after having worked for a spell in Mexico City, where he befriended the artist and took his portrait in the mid-1920s. The crossing of paths of these creative luminaries at Stackpole’s studio is richly documented in Weston’s daybook entry for this date. (See The Daybooks of Edward Weston, vol. 2, pages 198-199; published by Aperture in 1973.)

The Pictorial unit of The Bancroft Library’s archival processing team is pleased to announce that some of the portraits taken by Weston at this sitting have been recently processed and are now available for access (described in the library catalog under the call number BANC PIC 2013.119). Separated and transferred from the Timothy L. Pflueger Papers of our Manuscripts unit (BANC MSS 2012/182), the collection of Weston materials includes a letter written by the photographer and a selection of small-format proof prints offered to the architect so that he could choose the images he preferred for final printing. Among the thirteen prints in the collection, eleven of them depict Pflueger in various shoulder-length poses, while two images depict the architect informally sitting on a bench with Rivera. Stackpole is not depicted, but evidence of his open-air studio is present in the natural light reflected on the subjects’ faces and some of the objects captured in the shots of the architect and muralist seated together. Although Weston took separate portraits of Rivera and Kahlo at this same encounter, these images are not present in the material sent to Pflueger.

Weston’s letter to Pflueger, written by hand on the photographer’s studio stationery, refers to the specific images from the sitting that he feels were best, yet also admits to his being unsatisfied with the overall results and offers the architect the option of a second sitting. The collection also includes Weston’s original envelope in which the letter and prints were sent, the wrapping materials in which Weston enclosed the prints, and Pflueger’s annotated file envelope in which the material had been saved.

The proof prints that Weston sent to Pflueger were unfixed — i.e. after being exposed to the negative and placed in a bath of developer, the prints did not undergo a subsequent chemical bath which would have “fixed” the development of the images at a given point. The images therefore continued to gradually develop and are, in their current state, predictably faded and darkly discolored. The practice of not fixing such proof prints was common among 20th century portrait photographers whose work involved traditional gelatin silver “black & white” processes. In addition to serving as quickly produced reference images for both photographer and client, the inferior-quality prints also helped to ensure that the proofs sent to clients for final selection would have minimal resale value — an obvious concern for prominent photographers whose works were collected on the market.

Some of the prints in the collection display additional deterioration as a result of having been stored in direct contact with the chemically harmful foil and acidic paper in which they were wrapped for decades prior to their arrival in the library. On the backs of the prints are pencil-written annotations by Weston, including numbers that indicate the sequence of poses he photographed. On the back of one print Weston’s initials indicate an image which he considered to be among the most suitable for final printing.

To ensure safe access by researchers, the prints have been individually enclosed in polyester sleeves that prevent any unfixed chemical residue from migrating during their handling. As a safeguard against long-term damage caused by exposure to light, each print is additionally housed in a paper sleeve. Each of the components of the collection is housed in a separate folder, and all are stored together in a single box.

The Bancroft is excited to make this material accessible for a number of reasons, the most obvious being its evidentiary connection to a moment in time when Weston, Pflueger, Rivera, Kahlo and Stackpole came together for a professionally and socially satisfying gathering, one documented for posterity by the photographer in both word and image. Weston’s distinct large handwriting is impressive to behold in person, as are the pieces of stationery which conveyed the contents from photographer to architect. Perhaps the collection’s most enduring value lies in its glimpses of Weston’s working methods, his relations with his clients, and his openly frank assessment of the quality of his work.

To more broadly illustrate the context of the collection, we have supplemented the original material with printouts of high-quality scans of contact prints made from Weston’s original negatives taken at Stackpole’s studio on that day. Compared to the proofs in the Pflueger papers, these clear, sharp images depict the full range of portraits of Pflueger, and additional shots of Rivera, including one depicting him with Kahlo. We’ve also included a copy of the pages in Weston’s original daybook entry that describe the photographer’s various appointments and observations of that day, most of it expressing his affectionate reunion with Rivera, his first impressions of Kahlo, and the group’s dinner outing in North Beach that followed the sitting. These supplemental materials were kindly shared by the Center for Creative Photography of the University of Arizona, Tucson, where Edward Weston’s archive is held.

Among the Pflueger papers are other photographs of Rivera and Kahlo – not taken by Weston – including two snapshots which may depict the couple during one of their stays in San Francisco. These can be found in BANC MSS 2012/182, carton 33.

Of related interest, Bancroft’s holdings of the San Francisco News-Call Bulletin Photograph Archive include original glass negatives of studio portraits of Rivera, Kahlo and Stackpole taken at a single sitting. The photographer, location and exact date of these portraits are unknown, but they were undoubtedly taken during the couple’s same stay in San Francisco, between late 1930 and mid-1931, when Weston visited them for the Pflueger sitting. These portraits are found in BANC PIC 1959.010–NEG pt. 1, box 3135 (items 37390 and 37391) and box 3136 (items 37404 and 37405).

Chris McDonald
Processing Archivist, Pictorial Unit
Technical Services
The Bancroft Library