Those rude, bare shapes of his, resembling the knotted contours of roots, hard, wrinkled peasant flesh, primitive materials and things worn by the elements, convey in a hundred degrees of intensity the quality of living stripped to the essentials …
Paul Rosenfeld, New Republic, December 1930
landscape nudes and a lifelong companion
Weston broke his hermit-like existence by scheming with his sister to bring a few chosen Vassar College friends to a “winter party” at his studio. He wanted to know Faith Borton, the Quaker girl with high coloring, better. He figured to find out what mettle she was made of while cutting down a massive tree and trekking on snowshoes in the wilderness. They married in a Quaker meeting house in May 1923. Faith became a working partner, her belief in Harold the buttress of their life together.
The contours of Faith’s body inspired paintings that came to be called “landscape nudes”—a radical departure from traditional nudes. They were considered too daring by some but impressive by others, such as Alfred Stieglitz and John Marin.