fbpx
Edward Weston
Excusado (Toilet), 1925

Artwork Info

Artwork title
Excusado (Toilet)
Artist name
Edward Weston
Date created
1925
Classification
photograph
Medium
gelatin silver print
Dimensions
9 1/2 in. × 7 9/16 in. (24.13 cm × 19.21 cm)
Date acquired
1985
Credit
Collection SFMOMA
Purchase through a gift of Dwight V. Strong
Copyright
© 1981 Center for Creative Photography, Arizona Board of Regents / Artist Rights Society (ARS), New York
Permanent URL
https://www.sfmoma.org/artwork/85.420
Artwork status
Not on view at this time.

Audio Stories

Weston on the sensuous beauty of his toilet

Show TranscriptHide Transcript

transcripts

NARRATOR: In October 1925, Edward Weston, who was living in Mexico at the time, wrote about this photograph of an ordinary toilet.  

 

NARRATOR READS DAYBOOK EXCERPT: Form follows function. Who said this I don’t know, but the writer spoke well! I have been photographing our toilet, that glossy enameled receptacle of extraordinary beauty. It might be suspicioned that I am in a cynical mood to approach such subject matter when I might be doing beautiful women or God’s out-of-doors — or even considered that my mind holds lecherous images arising from restraint of appetite. But no! My excitement was absolute aesthetic response to form. For long I have considered photographing this useful and elegant accessory to modern hygenic life, but not until I actually contemplated its image on my ground-glass did I realize the possibilities before me. I was thrilled! Here was every sensuous curve of the human form divine but minus imperfections. 

Never did the Greeks reach a more significant consummation to their culture, and it somehow reminded me, in the glory of its chaste convolutions and in its swelling, sweeping, forward movement of finely progressing contours, of the Victory of Samothrace. Yet the blind will turn longingly back to classic days for art! Now I eagerly await the development of my exposed film. 

Read MoreCollapse

Other Works by Edward Weston

See other works by Edward Weston

Please note that artwork locations are subject to change, and not all works are on view at all times. If you are planning a visit to SFMOMA to see a specific work of art, we suggest you contact us at collections@sfmoma.org to confirm it will be on view.

Only a portion of SFMOMA's collection is currently online, and the information presented here is subject to revision. Please contact us at collections@sfmoma.org to verify collection holdings and artwork information. If you are interested in receiving a high resolution image of an artwork for educational, scholarly, or publication purposes, please contact us at copyright@sfmoma.org.

This resource is for educational use and its contents may not be reproduced without permission. Please review our Terms of Use for more information.