Getty Museum

Pyramid of Teopanzolco, Cuernavaca (85.XM.244)

Date

1924

Medium

Palladium print

Culture

American

Department

Photographs

Institution

Getty Museum

> In August 1924 Edward Weston spent five days in Cuernavaca, southwest of Mexico City. He was impressed with the town, remarking in his daybook of the “luxuriantly tropical” countryside in which it sat and of the well-kept cobblestone streets. He noted though that it was too picturesque for him to photograph: “It was so theatrical, so dramatic, that unless one became used and hardened to it, living there would be as mentally exhausting as spending all week in an art gallery or sitting all day in a theater.” The ruins of the pyramid of Teopanzolco, located just outside Cuernavaca, caught his eye, however: “I photographed details of a small but most interesting pyramid near the city, a structure contemporary with those of San Juan Teotihuacán. From four of these negatives I have printed; fine technical negatives, revealing well the massive solidity of the masonry which has stood the weathering of centuries.” This type of subject was in vogue at the time. Artists associated with the Mexican Renaissance drew heavily on “primitive” art, including that of pre-Columbian culture, for inspiration. The government of Mexico, too, was taking steps to reinvigorate appreciation of the country's cultural heritage, promoting and supporting archaeological and anthropological studies of its ancient civilizations. Although these trends may have encouraged Weston to consider and appreciate such subjects, his goals were less politically driven. > > As he had done in his nude study of Tina Modotti (1896-1942) (see [86.XM.710.8](http://www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/54962/edward-weston-nude-tina-modotti-american-1924/)), Weston truncated his subject, presenting just part of the immense temple. Photographing down toward the structure's base, he eliminated the horizon and allowed the lines, cubic structure, and texture of the massive stone walls to articulate his composition. Although recognizable as a temple, the subject is simultaneously used as a vehicle for formal abstraction. > > Brett Abbott. *Edward Weston*, In Focus: Photographs from the J. Paul Getty Museum (Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 2005), 36. ©2005, J. Paul Getty Trust.

The authoritative record is held by Getty Museum. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.