For Immediate Release

Foundation for Art and Preservation in Embassies Announces Addition of Portfolio to its Collection

Left: Brett Weston, Branches and Snow, High Sierra, California, 1950, Silver Gelatin Print, 8x 10 inches, Gift from the Christian Keesee Collection Right: Brett Weston, Rock and Kelp, Carmel Beach, California, 1956, Silver Gelatin Print, 8x 10 inches, Gift from the Christian Keesee Collection

Washington D.C. – May 14, 2015 – The Foundation for Art and Preservation in Embassies (FAPE) is pleased to announce the addition of 100 works by Brett Weston to its Collection, a gift from the Christian Keesee Collection. FAPE unveiled the portfolio to Secretary of State John Kerry at its annual dinner on April 20, at the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Reception Rooms.

“We are grateful for this generous donation from the Christian Keesee Collection,” said FAPE Chairman Jo Carole Lauder. “Brett Weston is one of the greatest American photographic artists. We are delighted to celebrate his work, and for the opportunity to share his spectacular photographs with our U.S. embassies around the world.”

In 2013, FAPE launched a collection of American photography, which supports its mission of cross-cultural understanding within the diplomatic community and the international public, with editions by Tina Barney and William Wegman. FAPE’s Photography Collection has since expanded with donations by Richard Benson, Sidney Felsen, Cindy Sherman and Carrie Mae Weems. Brett Weston is the seventh artist represented in the Collection.

“It is very exciting to contribute to the expanding FAPE Photography Collection,” said Christian Keesee. “It is a wonderful opportunity to share Brett Weston’s work with U.S. embassies around the world.”

About Brett Weston Brett Weston was born in Los Angeles in 1911, the second son of photographer Edward Weston. In 1925, Edward removed Brett from school and took him to Mexico, where he became his father's apprentice and was surrounded by the likes of , and Diego Rivera.

In 1929, Brett and his father moved to Carmel, California. At various times, he also lived in Los Angeles where he had his own studio and portrait business, and in New York where he was

Page 1 of 2 stationed in the army. Following a 1947 Guggenheim Fellowship, which he used to photograph along the East Coast, he moved to Carmel to pursue his art work, including wood sculpture that was influenced by his own photographs.

From the 1950s through the ‘80s, Weston's style changed sharply and was characterized by high contrast, abstract imagery. The subjects he chose were, for the most part, not unlike what interested him early in his career: plant leaves, knotted roots, and tangled kelp. He concentrated mostly on close-ups and abstract details, but his prints reflected a preference for high contrast that reduced his subjects to pure form.

Brett Weston died in Kona, Hawaii, on January 22, 1993.

About The Brett Weston Archive In November of 1996, Oklahoma City collector Christian Keesee acquired from the Brett Weston Estate the most complete body of Weston's work in existence. In addition to numerous vintage prints dating from as early as 1925, up through work produced shortly before he died in January 1993, the Archive also contains rare, self-titled 'private collections' assembled by the artist over six decades that illustrate not only his range of subjects, but what he thought were examples of his finest prints. There also exist a number of unsigned, unmounted prints that provide a fascinating look at the exhaustive efforts Weston went to in pursuit of his art. As one of the largest and most significant collections by an individual American photographer, the Brett Weston Archive serves as a resource for museums, collectors, historians, and publishers worldwide.

About FAPE FAPE is the public-private partnership dedicated to providing permanent works of American art for U.S. embassies worldwide through site-specific commissions, original print and photography collections, preservation projects and other arts and education initiatives. FAPE contributes to the U.S. Department of State’s mission of cultural diplomacy by partnering with American artists whose gifts encourage cross-cultural understanding within the diplomatic community and the international public. All artworks commissioned or placed by FAPE are gifts, representing the generosity and patriotism of some of the country’s greatest artists and donors. As of 2015, FAPE’s contributions include permanent works by more than 200 preeminent American artists placed in more than 140 countries.

FAPE was founded in 1986 by Leonore Annenberg, Wendy W. Luers, Lee Kimche McGrath and Carol Price. Its current leadership includes Chairman Jo Carole Lauder, President Eden Rafshoon, Vice President Darren Walker, and Director Jennifer A. Duncan. A volunteer advisory committee chaired by Robert Storr, Dean of the Yale School of Art, selects and commissions all FAPE artists. FAPE underwrites the fabrication and installation, and is exclusively funded through individual, foundation and corporate donations. Additional information about FAPE can be found at www.fapeglobal.org.

Follow FAPE’s announcements, events and artists on Facebook and Instagram using the hashtag #FAPEglobal.

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Media Contacts For more information on FAPE, images, or to arrange interviews, members of the media please contact: Justyna Zajac or Pamela Hernandez, Blue Medium Inc. (212) 675-1800; [email protected] or [email protected]

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