Edward Weston Prologue to a Sad Spring, ca. 1919, Collection Marjorie and Leonard Vernon

New York, NY – While Edward Weston is widely known as one of the twentieth century’s most important photographers, Margrethe Mather has remained one of its most forgotten. Mather’s work, produced between 1913 and 1925, deserves a much more significant place in the history of photography. Edward Weston and Margrethe Mather: A Passionate Collaboration, examines the years of the Mather-Weston association toward a critical re-evaluation of an overlooked body of work. The exhibition traces the artistic development of two significant American artists before and after World War I, as photography teetered back and forth between pictorialism and modernism. The exhibition illuminates for the first time the close working relationship between the two artists and firmly places Mather’s work within the milieu in which it was created.

A Passionate Collaboration is co-organized by Beth Gates Warren and the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, and presented by The AXA Gallery. The AXA Gallery is sponsored by AXA Financial and its subsidiary The Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States. Additional assistance has been provided by AXA Art Insurance Corporation.

Edward Weston Margrethe Mather on Horsehair Sofa, ca. 1920, Collection Michael and Jane Wilson

Edward Weston met Margrethe Mather in Los Angeles in 1913, and the two began a journey together that would last the next twelve years, becoming companions, business associates, artistic partners and occasionally lovers. They founded the Camera Pictorialists of Los Angeles in 1914, which went on to become one of the most important camera clubs and exhibition venues in the country, and, by 1921, ultimately identified themselves artistically as “equal partners”, co-singing their names to several photographs. In many ways, Mather was Weston’s mentor and teacher. She shared with him her intuitive eye for composition and her innate sense of style. By example, she showed him how to edit an image to its very essence. She introduced him to her circle of bohemian friends who taught him to view life from a variety of perspectives.

Margrethe Mather Florence Deshon, ca. 1921, Collection Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona, Tucson

In turn, Weston encouraged Mather to exhibit her work and compete for recognition. Weston also urged Mather to overcome her natural inclination to procrastinate, and for a time promoted her reputation along with his own. In his own words, Mather was to Weston “the first important person” in his life. Although her little-known body of work has always held its own in the company of great photographs, she has been remembered mostly through the commentary of Edward Weston. Mather had her own, very successful career apart from Weston, but despite this, she has remained one of the most forgotten photographers of the twentieth century while Weston has become one of the most renowned.

Together Mather and Weston constantly sought out fresh visual vocabularies to set their work apart from that of their contemporaries.They were never satisfied with the formulaic or predictable approach, even though it could have brought them considerable critical acclaim and financial rewards. They were, in many ways, harmonious spirits who believed that photography was the penultimate means of expression in the modern world.

Margrethe Mather and Edward Weston Carl Sanburg, 1921, Collection JGS, Inc.

The exhibition is accompanied by a book published by W.W. Norton and authored by the exhibition’s curator, Beth Gates Warren. In Margrethe Mather & Edward Weston: A Passionate Collaboration the best of Mather’s remarkable oeuvre is collected in a single volume, alongside many of Weston’s early prints. Seen together, the two artists’ work illustrates the extraordinary relationship of these two creative geniuses, as well as providing testimony to Mather and Weston’s impact on the future of photography. (160 pages, 8 ½ x 10” with 94 duotone photographs. ISBN 0-393-04157-3. Distributed by W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.) The book retails for $39.95 and is available at Gateway Newsstand in the Equitable Atrium lobby at 787 Seventh Avenue in New York City.

Santa Barbara Museum of Art is one of southern California's finest art museums, featuring nationally recognized collections and special exhibitions of international importance. Highlights of the museum's remarkable permanent collection include antiquities; 19th-century French, British and American art; 20th-century and contemporary European, North American and Latin American art; Asian art; photography, and works on paper. Museum visitors will also enjoy the interactive children's gallery, the café and the Museum Store. The Santa Barbara Museum of Art is located at 1130 State Street, Santa Barbara, California.

AXA Gallery presents works from all fields of the visual arts, with a special emphasis placed on exhibitions that would not otherwise have a presence in the city. The AXA Gallery is located in the atrium lobby of Equitable Tower, 787 Seventh Avenue at 51st Street, in New York City. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 11am - 6pm, and Saturday, noon to 5pm. The Gallery is closed on Sundays. Admission is free.