As the son of pioneer photographer Edward Weston, Brett Weston has made his own mark in the field as witnessed by a recent show at the Santa Barbara Museum this summer, spanning his nearly seventy year career. Brett Weston’s brilliance as a photographic visionary and master-printer is well known. A maker of luminous and lasting works of photographic art, he worked in the darkroom from the very early hours of the morning whenever he was not photographing, but he made very few large-format exhibition quality prints.  Shortly before his death Brett Weston burned many of his negatives, asserting that he alone could print from them as intended.  In 1991-1992, when Aperture published a revised edition of his classic Voyage of the Eye, Brett selected a number of  these exhibition prints and  authorized Aperture to sell them  to support the foundation. In honor of the recent restrospective show at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art,  Aperture is pleased to offer a selection of these remaining prints to our collectors. All bear the intense beauty and masterful craftsmanship of one of the photography’s greatest artists. Each  unique gelatin-silver print is made and signed by Brett Weston and dry mounted on archival board. Inquiries can be sent to prints@aperture.org.

The work of some of the most important photographers of the twentieth century is currently on view in The Christopher Hyland Collection of Photography, By Way of These Eyes: The Sublime, Exotic and Familiar at the New Britain Museum of American Art in New Britain, CT  from June 6 through September 6, 2009. Tonight marks the opening reception to celebrate the show. Over the last decade, the museum has organized a distinguished series of exhibitions of contemporary photography and this show focuses on a collection of work of twentieth-century photographers amassed by the keen eye of Christopher Hyland. Hyland, founder of one of the world’s leading textile manufacturing firms and a collector since his youth, has put together a body of work informed by his exceptional eye and world travels. The well-known tastemaker and private art collector, based in Chelsea, is an avid supporter of his neighbor, Aperture Foundation. Included in the Christopher Hyland Collection, which features works by the  renowned  artists Herb Ritz,  Henri Cartier Bresson, Robert Maplethorpe, Vik Muniz , Sally Mann, Edward Weston, and Edward Steichen, are works purchased from the Aperture Limited-Edition Photographs program: highlights include Christine, 2003 by Richard Renaldi ; Eva Le Porge, Jock Sturges; Michael Wolf’s tc39 and tc88;  The Edge of Vision Portfolio featuring the work of Bill Armstrong, Richard Caldicott, Manuel Geerinck, Mikko Sinervo, and Nicki Stager; portfolios by Paul Strand and single works by Brett Weston, among others. Exciting programming is scheduled as an accompaniment to the exhibition, with lectures centered on many of the artists Aperture has published through the years: Diane Arbus, Edward Weston, Edward Steichen, Alfred Stieglitz. and Sally Mann.  Also of note is the August 13 Art Happy Hour, titled the “The F stops here,” feature Ellen Carey and Bill Armstrong, included in the just published The Edge of Vision: The Rise of Abstraction in Photography. The New Britain Museum of American Art is a great destination for the photography enthusiast this summer!

The Christopher Hyland Collection of Photography, By Way of These Eyes: The Sublime, Exotic and Familiar
Saturday, June 6—Sunday, September 6, 2009
Opening Reception: Friday, June 12, 2009 5:00—7:00 pm
New Britain Museum of American Art
56 Lexington Street
New Britain, CT
(860) 229-0257