(Click on images to enlarge)
Edward Weston by Peter Krasnow, 1925. Courtesy National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C.
This article is intended to illustrate the inter-connectedness of the community of Los Angeles Bohemians among the coteries of Pauline and R. M. Schindler, Edward Weston, Galka Scheyer, Peter Krasnow and numerous others in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Carmel. The above Peter Krasnow portrait of photographer Edward Weston was likely painted during Weston's January through August 1925 return to California from Mexico. Peter and Rose Krasnow then lived next door to the Weston family at 4323 Perlita Ave. in Glendale. Weston wrote in his diary at the time,
"January 3rd, 1925. Los Angeles. ... Peter Krasnow saw my [Mexico] work, the first of all my friends - "our" work, I should have said, for his response to Tina's [Modotti] several prints was keen. Now I must see Ramiel [McGehee] at once." (Daybooks of Edward Weston, Vol. I, Jan. 3, 1925, p. 113).
Peter Krasnow studio, Perlita Ave., Glendale, CA. Photographer unknown (Possibly Edward Weston). From "Peter Krasnow: Maverick Modernist," Laguna Beach Art Museum, 2016.
Edward Weston met Peter Krasnow at Krasnow's 1922 exhibition at the Whitney Studio Club while he was in New York paying homage to photographer Alfred Steiglitz after which he and Krasnow became lifelong friends. After being lured to Los Angeles by Weston, Krasnow bought land from Weston next door to his house on Perlita Ave. in Glendale thus enabling Krasnow to build his own house and backyard studio in 1923 (see above). Krasnow exhibited at the Los Angeles Museum of Art in a four-man show along with E. Roscoe Schrader, managing director of the Otis Art Institute in December-January 1922-23 (see catalogue below). (Author's note: Schrader was replaced as managing director at Otis the following year by R. M. Schindler's Chicago friend Karl Howenstein. For much more on this see my "The Schindlers and the Hollywood Art Association").
Krasnow Exhibition Catalogue, Los Angeles Museum of Art, December 14, 1922 - January 1, 1923. Courtesy LACMA Krasnow Archive.
Krasnow was at the time of Weston's six month return from Mexico, absorbed in painting and beginning to sculpt in wood in his backyard studio. He began teaching Edward Weston's son Brett the finer points of sculpting in wood while also taking time out to paint his dear friend Edward's portrait. After another year in Mexico spent mainly on a commission from Anita Brenner to photograph illustrations for her book "Idols Behind Altars", Edward and Brett returned to the U.S. for good in December of 1926.
A month after the permanent return from Mexico, Krasnow threw a wild party. Weston wrote of the event,
"Peter's party was one of the gayest ever. Dressed as a fine lady, evening gown and trimmings, I had a chance to burlesque the ladies and did. The "bootlegger" failed us, but we did not miss him. Only dawn ended the fun. Peter made great cartoons which covered the walls; they were more than jokes, he achieved creative expression. One was of E. W. with his camera, another of Dr. Frankl, knife in hand, after decapitating a patient. Galka Scheyer had begged my leather breeches, putees, pistola and Texano, so I got in exchange her outfit, even down to the panties, and a marvelous make-up job to boot. As a ravishing woman I was a success with the women." (Daybooks of Edward Weston Vol. II, Feb. 3, 1927, p. 3.)
During late February of 1927 Edward Weston exhibited at UCLA in a show most likely arranged by art teachers Annita Delano, who was already good friends with Scheyer, and Barbara Morgan who were both prime movers of the late 1920s L.A. art scene. (For much more on Delano and her involvement with the local artisan's participation in the interior decoration of the new Bullock's Wilshire Department Store, see my "Foundations of Los Angeles Modernism: Richard Neutra's Mod Squad." Also see my "Bertha Wardell Dances in Silence at Kings Road, Olive Hill and Carmel" for much on Pauline Schindler's sister Dorothy's employment at UCLA with Delano, Morgan and Wardell. ).
Weston diarized of the show,
"February 13. Brett and I are exhibiting together, - his first public appearance. The University of California [Annita Delano] invited me, and I included him as quite worthy. I am showing around 100 prints, - Brett twenty. We hung the exhibit yesterday and were exhausted by night. He should be stimulated and has sense enough not to become conceited. (For much more on Annita Delano see my "Foundations of Los Angeles Modernism: Richard Neutra's Mod Squad").February 14. Peter [Krasnow] came with Marguerite Zorach and Henrietta Shore to see my work. Mrs. Zorach I remembered from published reproductions, but could not definitely connect her name and work. Henrietta Shore I knew only by name, - from Peter. Now I know her very well, for they took me to her home and there I saw fine painting. Women as creative artists soar in my half contemptuous estimation when I see such work..."
February 24. A trip to our exhibit showed by the register, not many, but important visitors had called. I was glad to note the name of Henrietta Shore. Liking her painting, I felt sure she would like my photographs. She wrote - "I spent an hour enjoying the sheer beauty of your work - free from mussiness or effect." She could have written nothing better."
March 20. Henrietta Shore asked me to sit to her. I am sure no one else could tempt me to so spend time, but certainly I respond to this real opportunity. The shells I photographed were so marvelous one could not do other than something of interest. What I did may only be a beginning - but I like one negative especially." (Daybooks of Edward Weston, Vol. II, February 13-March 20, 1927, pp. 5-6).
"Shell" by Henrietta Shore, before 1927. From "Henrietta Shore and Edward Weston" by Roger Akin, American Art, Vol. 6, No. 1, Winter 1992, p. 46.
Henrietta Shore's shells provided much inspiration for both her and Weston and resulted in a huge boost to Weston's creativity. As he posed for Shore's portrait of him, Weston reciprocated with a portrait of her.
Edward Weston by Henrietta Shore,1927. Ibid.
Henrietta Shore by Edward Weston, 1927. Ibid.
Having by then become great friends, Weston and Shore exhibited together in San Diego during May. Museum Director Reginald Poland agreed to also exhibit Weston's work based solely on Shore's recommendation and the show was fondly remembered in Weston's diary.
"May 30. We returned from San Diego late Saturday night, or rather early Sunday morn for it was 2:00 a.m. when Chandler, Brett and I drew up in front of the shack - my studio - having deposited Henry on the way - Henry went with us, and we did have a jolly two days. My photographs had a room to themselves, but were not well hung, being crowded too close and in a double line. Mr. Poland apologized, saying that they had not the facilities for hanging prints. However, I am quite pleased in that the committee on selection is going to purchase three prints for the gallery's permanent collection. Henry's exhibit was hung to great advantage: never have I gotten so much from her work before. And Henry said that nowhere has her work been so finely arranged in such a perfect gallery. I liked Mr. Poland at once and think San Diego fortunate in having a capable and discriminating director. He is direct, outspoken, either that or noncommittal; so Henry purposely questioned him, "Do you think the work of Stieglitz or Weston has the most Life?" He answered in my favor: and Poland is a great admirer of Stieglitz." (Daybooks of Edward Weston, Vol. II, May 30, 1927, p.25).
Weston's shell photographs first graced the pages of the L.A. Times on July 10, 1927 (see below). Labelled "A Camera Triumph," the caption under the shell read, "A Shell" from a photograph by Edward Weston. When the camera can be made to honestly produce such beautiful and individual works we must take this new art seriously. This great photographer's works may be seen today only at 211 1/2 East First Street." Weston's artist statement for the show was undoubtedly shared with Henrietta Shore as they were by then exhibiting together in both San Diego and Los Angeles. His manifesto in the article read,
"The prints in this exhibition are an approach to the medium of photography definitely opposed to the "impressionism" of the so-called "pictorialists." Impressionism is skepticism. It puts what one notices above what one knows. It means the monstrous heresy that seeing is believing. My desire has been to present with photographic beauty the thing itself, rather than a weak interpretation. My finished print is visioned on the camera's ground-glass at the time of exposure. To not feel completely then is failure."
"Photos by Weston in Japan Art Club", Los Angeles Times, July 10, 1927, p. 32.
Galka Scheyer first met the Schindlers and coterie in 1925 on her way from New York to San Francisco where she began marketing the work of her European clients Paul Klee, Lyonel Feininger, Alexei Jawlensky and Vasily Kandinsky whom she lovingly coined the "Blue Four". The Schindlers met Edward Weston and sons in 1921 while Pauline was teaching at the Walt Whitman School in Boyle Heights and likely met Weston's neighbor Krasnow between 1922 and 1923 before Weston and Tina Modotti first left for Mexico. (See my "The Schindlers and the Westons and the Walt Whitman School" and "Galka Scheyer and Barry Byrne, Bauhaus Connections").
Once settled in San Francisco, Scheyer quickly gathered important friends around her, including William H. Clapp, director of the Oakland Art Gallery, and Weston mutual friends Imogen Cunningham and artist husband Roi Partridge, and Dorothea Lange and husband Maynard Dixon. Scheyer quickly became an important catalyst between the artists of the Bay Area and Los Angeles, especially after being named the European representative of the Oakland Art Gallery by Clapp in 1926. She invited artists from Los Angeles to exhibit in the Bay Area and vice versa, using her Blue Four to get a foot in the door at various venues.
Scheyer brokered an exhibition of the Blue Four at Clapp's Oakland Art Gallery in May of 1926. Likely through Schindler's connections with Karl Howenstein, Schrader's replacement as museum curator and managing director of the Otis Art Institute, Scheyer arranged another exhibit of the Blue Four at the Los Angeles Museum of Art in October 1926 where its possible she first met Krasnow. She also met dynamic UCLA art teacher Annita Delano who immediately befriended Scheyer and prevailed upon her for another exhibition of the Blue Four at the school in December 1926.
Scheyer was beginning to spend more time in Southern California in early 1927 evidenced by her ability to piggy-back on the Los Angeles Museum of Art's annual Painters and Sculptors exhibition with her "Collection of Twenty Europeans." Arthur Millier raved of the work of Scheyer's close friend Alexander Archipenko whose success in a later show would play a major role in her landing the Braxton Gallery design commission for R. M. Schindler which will be explained in more detail later below. ("Archipenko's Works Astonishingly Vital," Millier, Arthur, L.A. Times, April 17, 1927, p. 30. Author's note: Scheyer perhaps used the Schindler's connections with Karl Howenstein to get her foot in the door at the museum. For more on this see my "The Schindlers and the Hollywood Art Association").
Peter Krasnow was one of the first Southern California artists to take advantage of Scheyer's presence on the Bay Area art scene. In an article in the new San Francisco art journal The Argus, Krasnow's exhibition at San Francisco's new Temple Emanu-El was announced.
"Peter Krasnow, a Los Angeles artist of whom Arthur Millier the art critic of the Los Angeles Times writes "he is a man who is going his own way and developing an unusual and beautiful art," is in town and will remain in our midst for a little while. Several of his hard wood panels are being shown at the Temple Emanu-El on Arguello Boulevard. He finds his inspiration in the Jewish faith and the treatment of his subjects is powerful and genuine and creates an atmosphere that takes us back to biblical times." ("Peter Krasnow in Town", The Argus, June 1927, p. 4).
Temple Emanu-El, San Francisco, Bakewell & Brown, architects. Photo by Gabriel Moulin, 1927.
While in San Francisco Krasnow spent some time with Scheyer evidenced by the two below sketches from Scheyer's collection drawn on the stationery of her Hotel Monroe and Clapp's Oakland Art Gallery.
Untitled sketch by Peter Krasnow on the verso of Hotel Monroe stationery, ca. 1927. Courtesy of the Galka Scheyer Archive, Norton Simon Museum.
Study drawing for "Temple Builders" by Peter Krasnow on Oakland Art Gallery stationery, ca.1927. Courtesy of the Galka Scheyer Archive, Norton Simon Museum.
The above Krasnow sketch "Temple Builders" foretold other articles by and about Krasnow. Edward Weston photographed Krasnow's finished product of "Temple Builders" and his photos of same appeared in the L.A. Times on May 8, 1927 and The Argus ( see below) "Reflections and Reactions", appearing in the July 1927 issue. Arthur Millier's May 15th review stated,
"Temple Builders" is very rich with its heavy primitive figures and a wealth of decorative material from Jewish symbology. The San Francisco Art Association reproduced Krasnow's panel, "Inspiration" on the cover of the very handsome catalogue of its recent annual exhibition." ("Five Artists Show at Jewish Council" by Arthur Millier, L.A. Times, May 15, 1927, p. 29. Author's note: Through Galka Scheyer's largesse, besides Krasnow, Boris Deutsch, Henrietta Shore, Kem Weber, and UCLA's Annita Delano, Barbara Morgan, Louise Pinckney Sooey and others exhibited in the San Francisco exhibit as well. For much more on this do a search in my "Schindler-Scheyer-Eaton-Ain: A Case Study in Adobe").
Excerpt from "Reflections and Reactions" by Peter Krasnow, The Argus, July 1927, p.3. Photo by Edward Weston. Weston's identical photo appeared in the L. A. Times on May 8, 1927, p. III-39) titled "In Archaic Mode."
Scheyer was again called upon by Delano to show work of European moderns in December of 1927. As a result, works by El Lissitzky, Willi Baumeister, Kurt Schwitters and Moholy-Nagy were exhibited for the first time in Los Angeles at UCLA. (Art & Artists by Arthur Millier, Los Angeles Times, December 18, 1927, p. C30).
Through Scheyer's largesse, Peter Krasnow also had a show at the Oakland Art Gallery during June of 1928. Scheyer likely used the two above drawings that she received from Krasnow to sell Clapp on agreeing to do the show and/or Clapp had already seen Krasnow's June 1927 show at Temple Emanu-El. At the time of the exhibit, a Howard Putzel review in The Argus of Krasnow's eight bas-relief wood carvings, referred to the "Temple Builders (see above), erect with heavy burdens, striving forward with firm, brave tread. Putzel closed his review with,
"At this time we see him mid-way in his development, and already California has reason to be proud of the beauty which takes form within the four high walls of the studio, built with Krasnow's own hands, in the shadow of the Griffith Park hills." (Howard Putzel, "Peter Krasnow: A Profile Sketch," The Argus, June 1928, p. 5).
Likely already under contract for a $1,000 commission for a ceremonial chest based on the strength of his 1927 show at Temple Emanu-El, Krasnow's 1928 Oakland Art Gallery exhibit, had to enhance expectations for the Temple leadership for their new ceremonial chest.
In the summer of 1927, Scheyer was down from San Francisco spending the summer living at Schindler's Kings Road House studying the relationships between modern art and contemporary architecture. She likely used the opportunity to present the work of her stable of "Blue Four" artists to the Schindler-Weston coterie evidenced by the watercolor of one of her events captured by Peter Krasnow which he soon gifted her along with a pencil portrait of her. (For much more on Scheyer's marketing of the Blue Four and R. M. Schindler and Gregory Ain's architectcure see my "Schindler-Scheyer-Eaton-Ain: A Case Study in Adobe").
Krasnow’s illustrative watercolor “Recalling Happy Memories,” also gifted to Scheyer by the artist, depicts Scheyer lecturing to a small gathering at Schindler's Kings Road House where she was then staying, holding a painting in her left hand and a pointer in her right, with the four blue lines, recognized as symbols of the Blue Four artists, painted in the upper right-hand corner.
"Recalling Happy Memories," Galka Scheyer at Kings Road by Peter Krasnow, 1927. Courtesy Norton Simon Museum, Galka Scheyer Collection.
Perhaps in gratitude for her assistance in his earlier exhibition at San Francisco's Temple Emanu-El and publicity in The Argus or indeed for simply "Recalling Happy Memories," Krasnow also gifted to Scheyer a pencil portrait of her. (See above and below).
Galka Scheyer by Peter Krasnow, 1927. Courtesy Norton Simon Museum Scheyer Collection.
"Trickling Hands" by R. M. Schindler ca. 1914-17. Courtesy Scheyer Collection, Norton Simon Museum.
Schindler gave the above drawing to Scheyer in the spring of 1927. Although he did not personally dedicate the drawing to Scheyer, he inscribed it: "Throttling fist - Faltering death - Trickling hands - Fluid life - Mr. Schindler." On the letterhead of the Oakland Art Gallery she wrote him a thank you note.
"Thanks for the lovely drawing. I come down to Los Angeles end of May + peep round the corner to find out whether I live like a bachelor or 'old maid' or in company. I wrote all about it to your wife. Coming back from Portland I had again an attack of oyness - but I am good girl - resting - and better already." (Galka Scheyer to R. M. Schindler, ca. May 1 1927).
The above is confirmed by a spring letter to the Blue Four artists advising them of her vacation plans, "I am going to Los Angeles and study modern architecture with the modern architect Schindler ([who] studied with Frank Lloyd Wright". (For much more on this see my "Selected Publications of Esther McCoy").
"Two Shells" by Edward Weston, 1927. Courtesy Galka Scheyer Collection, Norton Simon Museum.
A print of Edward Weston’s “Two Shells” was also given to Scheyer sometime in 1927, likely not too long after the two cavorted at a party given by his neighbor, Peter Krasnow. The shells were borrowed from fellow artist Henrietta Shore whom Weston had recently met through Peter Krasnow shortly after the party.
In a related diary entry Weston wrote,
"Madam Scheyer - clever, vivacious, - with a nice line of talk for club women and art students: she has climbed all over the culture hungry! However, I don't dislike her as some of my friends do. She amuses for awhile and can be simple when she knows the futility of pose. ... She wished to show me etchings and lithographs by Feininger, Kandinsky and others. Several Feiningers were truly fine, in fact I might have bought one etching of roofs but for the price, - only $9, yet more than I could spend: but I did buy a Kandinsky lithograph, - how could I resist it at $3?" (Daybooks of Edward Weston Vol. II, July 21, 1927, pp. 29-30).
Lovell Beach House, Newport Beach, designed by R. M. Schindler. Photo by Edward Weston, Aug. 1, 1927. Courtesy Schindler Archive, U. C. Santa Barbara.
In early August 1927 Weston photographed Schindler's masterpiece, the Lovell beach house in Newport Beach while Scheyer was living at his Kings Road house. He wrote of the event,
"August 2. Yesterday I did the first work at Balboa Beach, - the home of Dr. Lovell. I responded fully to Schindler's construction. It was an admirably planned beach home with a purity of form seldom found in contemporary houses unless they be mere reproductions from another age or..." (Daybooks of Edward Weston, Vol. II, August 2, 1927, p. 33. Author's note: Dr. Lovell was also the Weston family doctor and gave birth to two of his grandchildren).
During her three month stay at Kings Road Scheyer was witness to many things including the split between her hosts and the award of the commission of the Lovell town house to her fellow Kings Road tenant Richard Neutra which she took part in brokering. Her proximity to Schindler at this time also suggests that she also could have discussed the ceremonial chest with Krasnow. Her by then friendship with Annita Delano could have resulted in Krasnow's choice of Paul Williams for the final fabrication of the chest.
Edward Weston and Henrietta Shore had concurrent exhibitions in San Diego in May and at the Los Angeles Museum of Art in October of 1927 where 30 of Shore's paintings, including shells were on display with Weston's photographs of same. L.A. Times art critic Arthur Millier raved of the shows and comparatively stated,
"I group them together for several reasons: each has a full one-man exhibit at the Los Angeles Museum; they are friends; they show like a progression in viewpoint and work. This photographer makes us see the miracle of life that few painters can. Past articles in this column have dealt with his art at length and voiced my belief that the day draws near when his platinum prints will be eagerly sought rarities. The thirty-four paintings by Henrietta Shore form one of the most satisfying exhibits of the year. From the earliest to the latest ones she is disclosed as an artist singularly sure of purpose, and strong craftsmanship. Most interesting to me is the self-educational process by which, through a study of universal forms, typified in the "semi-abstractions, she has become to be intensely interested in the specific forms of individual objects. It is here she parallels Weston planning to present the truth about the object rather than the "impression" of the object, and certainly these flowers, plants and shells reveal to us their own inherent beauty independent of life and air". (Millier, Arthur, "Henrietta Shore and Edward Weston Show", Los Angeles Times, October 9, 1927, p. 30)
"Architectural Sculpture in Local Rebirth" by Arthur Millier, Los Angeles Times, Dec. 11, 1927, p. C32.
In December of 1927 Millier ran a piece about an apparent trend of collaboration among sculptors, architects and artisans on a more modern form of decorating architecture particularly on Bertram Goodhue's Los Angeles Public Library building and Donald Parkinson's new Student Union building at USC. The article was fronted by the above illustration designed by Peter Krasnow of a terra cotta grill to be placed over the Student Union's main entrance.
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An appreciative Krasnow gifted Scheyer yet another drawing depicting a Kings Road event, this time of mutual Krasnow-Schindler-Weston crony Sadakichi Hartmann "Reading Poe at Kings Road." This perhaps emboldened Krasnow to collaborate with R. M. Schindler and Paul Williams, one of Annita Delano's industrial design students at UCLA, to produce a ceremonial chest for the new Temple Emanu-El in San Francisco later that year. The commission most likely came about through the largesse of Galka Scheyer who was living in San Francisco and had spent the summer of 1927 living at the Schindler house on Kings Road learning the aspects modern architecture and networking and cross-pollinating the art scenes of the Bay Area and Los Angeles. (See much more on Scheyer's interactions in my "Pauline Gibling Schindler: Vagabond Agent for Modernism" and/or "Foundations of Los Angeles Modernism: Richard Neutra's Mod Squad").
Evidencing their continuing artistic friendship Weston wrote in his diary of Krasnow's and Shore's and his collaboration with Kem Weber who had included their work in a New York show. Edward wrote,
"May 28. Peter and Rose Krasnow, Henry Shore and I joined Ericka Weber in meeting Kem, returning from N.Y. where he furnished and decorated a three room apartment at Macy's "International Exposition of Art in Industry." Peter Henry and I were represented in his rooms. We went home with the Webers where numerous bottles of good homemade wine, peach cordial, and cocktails were serve to enliven several hours." (Daybooks of Edward Weston, Vol. II, May 28, 1928, pp. 59-60. See much more on this in my "The Foundations of Los Angeles Modernism: Richard Neutra's Mod Squad.").
Shortly before leaving for what ended ud,p being four months in San Francisco, Weston wrote of a get together at the Schindler house on Kings Road:
"... Have had a wire from the East West Gallery, S.F., for fifty prints to show July 1st to 15th. I accepted, provided the terms are mutually agreeable. I sense sales up there. Showed my work last night at Neutra's to a small group. Dr. Epstein, exchange professor from Russia at Cal. Tech.: Edstrom, sculptor, and Katherine Edson, dancer, whom I had not seen in years were there. Much interest in my work. Neutra is always enthusiastic." (Daybooks of Edward Weston, Vol. II, June 16, 1928, p. 62).
Weston wasted no time in publishing an article in The Argus shortly before his late August arrival for a stint living in Johan Hagemeyer's San Francisco studio at 2682 Union Street. Another Weston photo of Henrietta Shore shells appeared in the July-August 1928 issue in an Edward Weston article titled "Photography - An Eighth Art?" (see below). Weston opined in the article,
"The lens reveals more than the eye sees. Then why not use this potentiality to advantage? To be sure, it is a dangerous power, and the tyro or weakling becomes confused, hiding his inability in a blur. The most delicate textures, the most evanescent forms, can be rendered by photography in an unbroken continuity impossible to the human hand. Fleeting expressions, salient gestures, passing phenomena can be captured forever.I will even say, and not in defense, that it is immaterial whether or no these advantages have anything to do with art. Certainly they give photography undeniable value."
"Shells" by Edward Weston from "Photography - An Eighth Art?", The Argus, July-August 1928, p. 3. Weston's article was also reprinted in full in the L.A. Times, July 22, p. III-26. The same issue announced an exhibit Krasnow lithographs at Jake Zeitlin's Bookshop.).
Perhaps catching wind of the fact that Weston had recently appeared in The Argus from local gallerist Johan Hagemeyer, Pauline Schindler began her lobbying effort to woo Weston to Carmel by placing the same image on the cover of The Carmelite which she was then editing after leaving her husband and Kings Road. (See below for example.).
Edward Weston photo "Shell" on the cover of The Carmelite, August 1, 1928.
Schindler's erstwhile paper, the Carmel Pine Cone, about this time ran an article on the Henrietta Shore exhibition then on view at Johan Hagemeyer's gallery. The article mentioned Edward and Brett Weston's visit to attend the opening and a forthcoming Weston exhibit upon the closing of the Shore exhibition.
Artists of Brush and Camera Mingle at Hagemeyer's Studio, Carmel Pine Cone, July 13, 1928, p. 4.
Later in the same issue the Pine Cone reported that Edward and Brett were on their way to San Francisco for the opening of their show at the East-West Gallery and mentioned Harriet Shore's recent successful show at San Francisco's Palace of the Legion of Honor.
Glendale Artists Guests in Carmel, Carmel Pine Cone, July 13, 1928, p. 11.
"The Bull Fight" by Henrietta Shore, The Carmelite front cover, July 25, 1928.
The previous week Schindler had featured Shore's painting "The Bull Fight" on the July 27, 1928 cover during Shore's exhibition at Carmel's Johan Hagemeyer Gallery. Schindler apparently succeeded in her lobbying efforts as she announced the coming of Weston and his son Brett in a December 1928 article. Schindler talked fondly of Weston's time in Mexico City, his trip to New York to pay homage to Alfred Stieglitz (where he also first met Peter Krasnow) and recalled her time teaching his son's Chandler and Brett at the Walt Whitman School. Of Weston's passion she wrote,
"Weston's own personality has both intensity and quietness. These qualities combine to give a certain incandescence which is the sign of the artist whose interior fire burns constantly. The difference between a photographer and Edward Weston lies in the passion with which Weston approaches his work." ("Edward Weston on the Way", The Carmelite, December 26, 1928, p. 2).
Carmelite Masthead, 1929.
Schindler added Weston to her editorial advisory board shortly after his arrival in Carmel in early January of 1929. (See above). Weston and son Brett moved into Johan Hagemeyer's studio which was also the venue of a Henrietta Shore exhibition the previous July. As can be seen above, Weston was added to a list of contributing editors which included, besides Galka Scheyer, none other than Richard Neutra and Carol Aronovici, her estranged husband's partners in their Architectural Group for Industry and Commerce. (For much more on Aronovici in Carmel see my "The Schindlers in Carmel, 1924").
Johan Hagemeyer by Edward Weston, 1928. The San Franciscan, September 1928, p. 11.
Edward and Weston was living in Johan Hagemeyer's 2682 Union Street studio when the above photo was published. Hagemeyer was in Carmel hosting and exhibition of Westons's friend Henrietta Shore as announced by Pauline Schindler on the front cover of The Carmelite. She followed the next week with a cover shot of Weston's Argus photo of Shore's shell as seen earlier above.
In November of 1928, Krasnow's Temple Emanu-El ceremonial chest was completed and on display at the Los Angeles Public Library before being delivered and installed in its final resting place. Arthur Millier reported in the L.A. Times,
"A unique ceremonial chest designed by Schindler & Neutra, architects, executed by Paul Williams and decorated by carven panels by Peter Krasnow is being exhibited at the public library until the 28th inst. The chest was commissioned by Temple Emanu-El, San Francisco where it will be shortly placed, and its design and decorations preserve the traditions of Judaic history." ("Cabinet for Temple" by Arthur Millier, Los Angeles Times, November 25, 1928, p. C18).
Drawing for a Ceremonial Chest for Peter Krasnow designed by R. M. Schindler, 1928.
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| R. M. Schindler by Edward Weston, 1927. Courtesy of Edward Weston Archive, Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona. |
Besides designing the above plans, R. M. Schindler designed the below blueprint poster for the exhibition of Krasnow's chest at the Los Angeles Public Library in December 1928 before it was taken to San Francisco to its final resting place.
Schindler drew up the plans based on the dimensions of the Karsnow's door panels and the final fabrication was then completed by Paul Williams. Williams was well-known to Shindler's artist coterie of friends including Weston and Krasnow and like Annita Delano, was a regular attendee of Kings Road soirees. Delano fondly recalled the work of her industrial design student Williams in her oral history,
"I had Paul Williams make me a whole series of boxes. I shouldn't really get off the track here, but he was a student in these first courses called industrial design. The desk that I have right here in the studio is one that he designed and fashioned, and he made a great deal of furniture for the opening of Bullock's Wilshire — in fact, all of the special pieces. He had all of his design from me, and so he felt so grateful for what he had gotten that he really did a wonderful job fixing my car, equipping my car with special boxes to carry everything I needed out on trips." ("Interview of Annita Delano"). (See much more of Annita Delano's collaborative activities surrounding the interior design of Bullock's Wilshire at my "Foundations of Los Angeles Modernism: Richard Neutra's Mod Squad.").
In great anticipation in November the Temple Emanu-El Chronicle eagerly ran a piece announcing the completion of the Krasnow's chest.
"Mr. Krasnow has completed the Ceremonial Cabinet which is to be placed in the Temple House. It is a remarkable example of wood carving. It is now on exhibition in Los Angeles, and will be forwarded to San Francisco shortly. The room in which it is to be placed is now known as the Reception Room, but will be called the "Elkhan Cohn Memorial Room," when the Dedication Exercises are held in the month of December or January." ("The Ceremonial Cabinet," Temple Emanu-El Chronicle, November 23, 1928. Courtesy of Paula Freedman, Edward Weston Bibliographer and Temple Emanu-El historian.).
In the next issue ran an article copied from the November 23rd issue of the B'nai B'rith Messenger of Los Angeles, "Ceremonial Cabinet Carved by Peter Krasnow."
"By special arrangement with the Los Angeles Public Library, the Art Department of the University of California [Southern Branch], not having the proper space at the University building, placed on exhibit at the Library Exhibition Gallery the Ceremonial Chest by Peter Krasnow for the Temple Emanu-El, San Francisco, so as to give the students, as well as the public, in general, an opportunity to see this magnificent example of plastic art before it is sent to its [final] destination.The cabinet is carved in black walnut, exquisitely deigned. It has a special compartment for the keeping of ceremonial objects finished in Chinese lacquer. The carved relief doors have invisible lights, as is seen n the Egyptian relief carvings in the Metropolitan Museum. The cabinet is individual in conception, and is the finest example of mechanical and graphic design in the country. The plans for the case were drawn by Schindler and Neutra, architects, and it was built by Mr. Paul Williams." ("Ceremonial Cabinet Carved by Peter Krasnow," from the B'nai B'rith Messenger, November 23, in Temple Emanu-El Chronicle, November 29, 1928.).
Yet another article on the chest appeared the same week in the Los Angeles Evening Express. It began,
"Down in the lecture-art hall of the Public Library, on Fifth Street near Grand, stands a chest. One might call it a "chest" only because it is a treasure, but, it is better described as a shrine. Again, it is more than a shrine, rather as a race biography; in fact, self biography, written with carving-steel of that bold and tender craftsman, Peter Krasnow, of Los Angeles."
The article goes on for four more paragraphs describing the chest in glowing terminology. (Krasnow Art Shrine Shone, by Bruno David Ussher, Los Angeles Evening Express, November 26, 1928 reprinted in Temple Emanu-El Chronicle, December 7, 1928. Again courtesy of Paula Freedman).
While visiting Weston in San Francisco in December 1928 shortly before his aforementioned move to Carmel, Krasnow took him to the Temple Emanu-El to proudly show off the ceremonial chest after which Weston wrote,
"December 12. I take my hat off to you Peter, for a superb piece of work both in conception and technical execution. Tears came to my eyes, which would not come hearing Al Jolson. No doubt some of the emotion was from a very personal angle: knowing Peter, his life struggle, and details of the story woven around this chest. After months of heartbreaking work, mental strain and physical effort, he will receive exactly what he spent out in cash expenditures - $1,000. Nothing for his ability as an artist, not a red cent for his time as a day laborer. But he knew what he was getting into, as I knew when accepting the commission to illustrate Anita's book on Mexico. Neither he nor I can complain, yet we were exploited. The church spends $20,000 on a banquet, I have this first hand. Peter should have $10,000 in his purse, - even that would not be relatively fair." (Daybooks of Edward Weston, Vol. II, December 12, 1928, p. 98). (Author's note: Krasnow likely had to pay Schindler for drawing the plans and Paul Williams for fabricating the chest and perhaps shared this information with Weston during the viewing at the Temple.)
Ceremonial Chest installed in the "Elkhan Cohn Memorial Room" at Temple Emanu-El, by Peter Krasnow, 1928. Photographer unknown.Photo courtesy of Edward Weston bibliograoher and Temple historian Paula Freedman.
Further evidence that Galka Scheyer provided the largess for Krasnow's chest commission lies in the continuation of Weston's December 12th diary entry regarding her then romantic interest Ernest Bloch. Weston does not mention Scheyer in his diary entry but she almost certainly would have been in attendance.
"Later we went to hear Ernest Bloch tell how he created his "America." Some were disappointed in his talk, Rose [Krasnow] for instance, expecting a grave, profound sermon on art. Instead he kept us all chuckling or roaring with laughter, revealing homely, intimate details of his life during the period of creating. I heard the opinion that he was a good ballyhooer, used mob psychology to hold his audience. I felt he was just a naive, simple person, having the best sort of time laughing at himself with his audience: one who could not talk profoundly, - that went into his work. Yet his jokes had depth, his gestures had pathos, and he already wore, anticipating fame, a rakish laurel wreath." (Ibid. Author's note: Bloch's daughter Lucienne was associated with Diego Rivera in New York in 1933. For much more on the Blochs, and Galka Scheyer see my "Schindler-Scheyer-Eaton-Ain: A Case Study in Adobe").
The December 14th issue of the Temple Emanu-El Chronicle announced that Krasnow's Ceremonial Cabinet had finally been installed in the Reception Room, soon to be renamed Elkan Cohn Memorial Room. The same issue ran a blurb entitled "Ernest Bloch's "America" which was to be performed at the Civic Auditorium on December 20th and be interpreted by Rabbi Newman over Station KFRC on Sunday December 16. (Temple Emanu-El Chronicle, December 14, 1928. Courtesy of Temple historian Paula Freedman.).
The January 25th issue of the Temple Emanu-El Chronicle echoed Weston's December 12th Daybook entry on Scheyer's boyfriend Bloch with the article titled "America, America!" which described the December 9th performance of Bloch's anthem by the Congregation Emanu-El Religious School and the School's January 6th performance to new lyrics by Rabbi Newman and that Rabbi Newman has received a letter from Mr. Bloch, in which he writes,
"I am deeply touched by the beautiful words you have written on the melody of my anthem. It makes me very happy that my music has been so inspiring to you." ("America, America!" Temple Emanu-El Chronicle, January 25, 1929. Courtesy of Paula Freedman, Temple historian.).
The same issue ran a piece titled "The Elkan Cohn Memorial Room" announcing that the room containing Krasnow's chest would be dedicated in the near future. It also announced that Room 12 has upon its walls the photographs of "The Dybbuk" taken by Weston friend and soon-to-be fellow Carmel photographer, Roger Sturtevant. (Ibid. Author's note: Pauline Schindler was concurrently featuring the work of Roger Sturtevant both on the cover and within the pages of The Carmelite.).
Scheyer's probable attendance at the Congregation Emanu-El performance of Bloch's "America, America!" is born out by the following excerpt from her December 14, 1928 communal letter to the Blue Four,
"My friend Ernest Bloch, the composer, has won a prize of $3,000 with his "America." On the 20th of Dec. this symphony was played in 12 cities in America at the same time. That is America. I think his "Israel" is playing right now in Berlin." ("Galka E. Scheyer, collective letter, San Francisco, 14 December 1928, from Galka E. Scheyer and the Blue Four Correspondence, 1924-1945, edited by Isabel Wunsche, Benteli, 2006, p. 161).
In the next issue of The Argus Krasnow proudly wrote,
"The problems which presented themselves, as the work progressed, were so varied and complicated that only by combined efforts of an architect [Schindler], a mechanic [Williams] and a sculptor could an acceptable result be obtained. It took their concerted efforts to solve the problem of combining esthetic form with utility, of converting subject matter into design, and of translating age-old oriental lore into a language that may be read by all - giving to an individual denomination a universal interpretation." ("A Ceremonial Symbol in Wood" by Peter Krasnow, The Argus, January 1929, pp. 9, 13).
Krasnow had his third bay Area exhibition at Temple Emanu-El in conjunction with the installation of the new chest (see below catalogue for example).
Peter Krasnow Exhibition Catalogue, Temple Emanu-El, February 1929. From Peter Krasnow Artist File, Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Peter Krasnow, 1929 by Edward Weston. Courtesy of the Edward Weston Archive, Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona.
Both Edward and Brett Weston captured Kasnow's portrait about the time of the Temple unveiling of the chest. Brett was continuing to hone his wood-carving skills in neighbor Krasnow's backyard studio prior to moving in with his father in Johan Hagemeyer's Carmel studio/gallery. Their above and below portraits appear to have been taken at Point Lobos where Krasnow may have paid a visit to Edward in Carmel on his way back to Los Angeles.
After being ousted from her editorship of The Carmelite in September of 1929, Pauline Schindler would later feature Krasnow's ceremonial chest in Paul Bernant's The Handicrafter Magazine, a publication for which she was associate editor and frequent contributor during the early 1930s. (See masthead above). Pauline described the cabinet,
"Its three panels slide open to disclose these symbolic gifts lying upon a background of lacquer red modified by a slight bluish shadow, and illuminated by light from hidden sources. ... A deeply elemental Hebraic feeling pervades the work. The three panels depict symbolically the economic and cultural life of the Jewish people." ("The History of a Race Is Told by a Modern Craftsman in Wood," The Handicrafter, March-April, 1930, p. 21. Author's note: I wish to thank Congregation Emanu-El historian and Edward Weston bibliographer par excellence Paula Freedman for the above illustration and alerting me to Pauline's associate editorship of The Handicrafter).
Pauline Schindler, “The History of a Race Is Told by a Modern Craftsman in Wood,” The Handicrafter, April 1930, 21.
"In her article “The History of a Race Is Told by a Modern Craftsman in Wood” she described a large wooden cabinet by the Los Angeles sculptor Peter Krasnow (1886–1979),
"designed to house ritual objects for a San Francisco synagogue. Behind three richly carved wooden doors, with abstract themes depicting the history of the Jewish people, the covered spaces housed sacramental objects for the services of worship. The “deeply Hebraic feeling” that pervaded the work made the wooden structure seem “timeless, elemental, and universal,” she continued. The cabinet’s “strong simple rhythms give the work a dynamic quietness, a serenity like that of the seed in the earth, confident, awaiting its time.” (Ibid.).
By the same time Pauline Schindler's Krasnow article was published she had rented and moved into Frank Lloyd Wright's Storer House at 8161 Hollywood Blvd. where Brett Weston was soon to move in with his new wife Elinor and open his first studio. (1930 Census, April 7, 1930). At about the same time, responding to the news from her good friend Gela Archipenko that her husband had sold 18 pieces of sculpture to Hollywood movie director Joseph von Sternberg at his recent show at the Braxton Gallery, Galka Scheyer was excitedly writing to her estranged husband Rudolph with the news that she had convinced prominent gallerist Harry Braxton to hire him to design a new gallery. She closed with,
"I have no time now to tell you the result of my interview with Braxton but you will hear all when I come down south. The only thing is please let me know whether it will be al right for you if I come to Los Angeles with Mark in about three weeks. Marjorie [Eaton] will come probably with us together. I hope you are not afraid of too many woman. But I think we could manage to have your roof apartment for us and you sleep downstairs. Is this possible? Please answer this time." (Galka Scheyer to R. M. Schindler, May 30, 1929. Courtesy of Schindler Collection, UC-Santa Barbara. See much more on this at my "Richard Neutra and the California Art Club; Pathway to the Josef von Sternberg and Dudley Murphy Commissions").
After her June arrival in Los Angeles Braxton and Scheyer quickly scouted out a new gallery location next door to the high profile Hollywood Brown Derby restaurant in a new development built by C. B. DeMille.
Braxton Gallery, designed by R. M. Schindler, 1929. Photographer unknown.
Schindler rapidly designed a modern space and brought it to fruition for a late September opening. Scheyer and Braxton had originally planned on opening with a series of exhibitions of the "Blue Four" but their target client von Sternberg was then predisposed in Europe. Peter Krasnow was a willing substitute to participate in the grand opening which met with a rave architectural review from Arthur Millier. (For much more on von Sternberg's involvement with Scheyer and Braxton do a "von Sternberg" search in my "Richard Neutra and the California Art Club: Pathways to the Josef von Stern berg and Dudley Murphy Commissions").
In the September 15th issue of the L.A. Times Arthur Millier's article "Ultra" Gallery Arrives" opened with,
"But no one ever saw an awning like that. Its preposterous! What does it mean? If one can believe Harry Braxton, several score irritated pedestrians rush daily into his new art gallery at 1624 North Vine ... If a shop has awnings like that on the outside what may one not expect from its interior.
The novelty seekers are not let down there either. R. M. Schindler, architect, designed the Braxton Galleries. It was the enterprising art dealer's idea to get as far as possible from the red plush salon of tradition and Schindler took him there. He asked for clean-cut edges, clear spaces and interesting angles, and he got them.
One writer has characterized the new gallery as "modern as the Graf Zeppelin," and the architect has achieved a metallic clarity reminiscent of the giant airship's surface and line. Black wood, light gray walls, glass shelves with nickeled supports, all forming parts in a design, and a new texture for panels on which prints are displayed, gained by stretching ordinary steel fly screen over black paper. This last sounds queer but it makes an excellent background." ("Ultra Gallery Arrives" by Arthur Millier, Los Angeles Times, September 15, 1929, p. B18).
Of Krasnow Millier reported,
"Seven relief panels, carved in various wood by Peter Krasnow, are placed on the walls. To me Krasnow is at his best in this medium and in his pencil drawings. He works out his designs of figures and decorative elements with a rare sense for beauty and character of edges and the shadows they cast. The cutting is never very deep but the third dimension he attains, depending entirely on the kind of edge he cuts, gives an enchanting variety to the best of these panels." (Ibid., p. 22).
Blue Four exhibition catalogue, Braxton Gallery, March 1 - May 15, 1930. Sponsored by Josef von Sternberg and Mme. Galka Scheyer. Courtesy of the Getty Research Institute, Peg Weiss Papers.
Josef von Sternberg's return to the U.S. enabled an eager Scheyer and Braxton to finally schedule consecutive exhibitions of the Blue Four commencing on March 1st and running to May 15th. Von Sternberg agreed to sponsor the exhibitions as announced in the exhibition catalogue. (See below). (Author's note: Richard Neutra most likely viewed the Blue Four exhibitions at the Braxton Gallery before leaving in late May for his life-changing world tour upon completion of the Lovell Health House. He would have undoubtedly made his initial impression on his future client von Sternberg if the movie director was in attendance.).
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Perhaps excited by the publicity generated by the his gallery opening and Millier's rave review, Braxton further commissioned Schindler to design a beach-front home in Venice for him and his author/ screenwriter wife Violet Brothers Shore (see rendering below). Unfortunately, the likely modernistic icon was not to be built.
Harry Braxton and Viola Brothers Shore Residence (unbuilt), Venice, 1930. Designed by R. M. Schindler. Cover, The Architecture of R. M. Schindler, Abrams, New York, 2001.
Brett Weston had in early 1930 made a rush trip to Los Angeles, possibly accompanied by erstwhile Carmelite Roger Sturtevant, to photograph some projects Pauline included in her "Contemporary Creative Architecture in California" exhibition which traveled among various West Coast venues in 1930-31. Pauline welcomed with open arms her former Walt Whitman school pupil to move in with her into the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Storer House in 1930 where he opened his first studio. Pauline designed Brett's first business card (see below). Galka Scheyer also moved in briefly and was credited with providing the young lensman with his first official sale. Scheyer and Schindler would commandeer Braxton's nearby gallery to to show wealthy prospective clients Brett's work.
It was around this same time that Brett subbed for his father and made the boat trip to Catalina to photograph Schindler's iconic Wolfe House. Even though no longer the editor of The Carmelite, Pauline was still a part-time contributor and publicity agent for her estranged husband and arranged for his September 1930 lecture at Carmel's Denny-Watrous Gallery evidenced by the rendering of the Wolfe House on the cover below.
Weston attended Schindler's lecture and wrote in his diary of the boorish behavior of artist John O'Shea,
"September 17. ... The difference started ten days ago when Schindler talked here. His treatment by some of the pillars of society in the audience was contemptible. One can allow for a difference of opinion on modern architecture, or any other art, but one cannot excuse insulting conduct: talking in undertones which were anything but whispers, walking around, - yes clumping around during the after-discussion, asking trivial questions - actually poking fun. Schindler bore himself with dignity, he was a gentleman, the others were not. I admit John O'Shea had been drinking: good, - one's character is revealed with a few drinks. After the lecture he made disparaging remarks, even indulging in personalities in a loud voice standing near Schindler, head turned toward him, face a leering mask. Disgusting!" (Daybooks of Edward Weston, Vol. II, p. 187).
Brett found the time over a few years to learn the craft of wood sculpture from his neighbor and good friend Peter Krasnow (see above).. His true creativity showed through as he was able to combine sculpture and photography as the below three images of shadows among the Oceano Dunes illustrate. He became good enough that 18 of his sculptures were posthumously selected by the Monterey Museum of Art to appear alongside his photographs for an exhibition in 2002.
In Pursuit of Form: Sculpture and Photographs by Brett Weston, Monterey Museum of Art, 2002. Courtesy of the Monterey Museum of Art.
The below photo depicts Brett posing on his front porch of his Santa Monica Canyon home with another of his Krasnow-inspired wood sculptures on the living room table.
Brett Weston, Rustic Road, Santa Monica Canyon, 1940. Photo by Ray Miller. Courtesy Getty Research Insttute.