From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Charis Wilson
Charis Wilson
Helen Charis Wilson (May 5, 1914 - November 20, 2009), her senior year and then go on to Sarah Lawrence Col-
most widely known as a subject of Edward Weston’s pho- lege. Her father approved of her returning to Portland to
tographs, was a model and writer. finish high school, but although she won a full scholar-
ship to Sarah Lawrence he refused to allow her to go. [2]
Early life With no other course available to her Wilson went
back and forth between San Francisco and Carmel, en-
Wilson was born in San Francisco, the daughter of Harry rolling in and then dropping out of secretarial school.
Leon Wilson and Helen Charis Cooke Wilson. Her father Due to her father’s lack of belief in her, her self-esteem
wrote popular fiction, including the bestselling novel plummeted. She moved into the attic of a painter friend
Ruggles of Red Gap, which was later made into a movie. In- and had a series of love affairs that led to an unwanted
come from his writing provided a relatively high stan- pregnancy. Her mother arranged for an abortion, which
dard of living for the time, and in 1910 he built a 12-room led her "to resolve on chastity as a new way of life." [1]
house near Carmel, California. Two years later, when he She wrote that for a while she was driven by "a kind of
was 45, he married Cooke, who grew up in Carmel. She angry despair…[and was] aware even at the time that I
was 16.[1] was in bad shape and moving toward worse." [1] It was
Their first child, Leon, was born in 1913 and was fol- then that her life changed.
lowed a year later by their daughter, whom they named
after her mother. Wilson dropped her first name as a
young girl and became known as Charis (pro-
Her years with Weston
nounced /ˈkɛərɨs/), which means ’Grace’ in Greek. Her
family’s relative wealth and status provided her with a
leisurely childhood, and she spent many of her summers
swimming at the beach at Carmel and often sunbathing
without a swim suit. She developed a reputation at school
as an boisterous free-thinker for doing such things as
starting a "self-control" club in grade school in which ini-
tiates had to lie in a tub filled with frigid water.[1] Her be-
havior led to her being expelled from the private Branson
School in the eighth grade, and she spent the next two
years at the Catlin Gabel School in Portland, Oregon.
During this time her parents separated, and from
then she was cared for primarily by her grandmother and
her great aunt, who were both writers and part of the
literary scene of San Francisco. She returned to Carmel
and finished high school with her brother. While still in
high school she met the famous art collectors Louise and
Walter Conrad Arensberg, who lived nearby. She visited
their home often and was captivated by their substan-
tial collection of modern paintings and sculptures. Wal-
ter Arensberg encouraged her by asking for her opinions
about art and by engaging her in word play and intellec-
tual puzzles and conundrums. She said later that Arens-
berg was entirely responsible for her art education. [2] Nude (Charis, Santa Monica) (1936), often described as We-
Her parents divorced when she was 12, and although ston’s most famous photograph of Wilson.
she was still in school she rarely saw either one of them.
She often stayed with her grandmother or great aunt. Ac- Weston wrote that at a concert in December 1933 or Jan-
cording to Wilson, Ruth Catlin, founder of the Catlin Ga- uary 1934 he saw "this tall, beautiful girl, with fine pro-
bel School, came to see her and convinced her that she portioned body, intelligent face, well-freckled, blue eyes,
was too bright to stay in Carmel.[1] The two determined golden brown hair to shoulders – and had to meet."[3] Her
she should go back to the Catlin Gabel School to complete brother, Leon, who had met Weston while Wilson was in
1
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Charis Wilson
Portland, introduced the two. Wilson said "For anyone rolled down the sand dunes. He immediately focused his
interested in statistics – I wasn’t – he was 48 years old and camera on her, capturing both the spontaneity of her
I had just turned 20. What was important to me was the freedom and her unabashedly sensual form.[1] These
sight of someone who quite evidently was twice as alive photos, which are some of Weston’s most recognized im-
as anyone else in the room, and whose eyes most likely ages, "mark the climax of Weston’s quest for a modern
saw twice as much as anyone else’s did."[4] figurative style."[5]
At the time Weston was married, but his wife, Flora In 1937 Weston applied for and was awarded a
Chandler Weston, was living in Los Angeles. In Carmel Guggenheim Fellowship, the first ever award to a pho-
Weston was sharing his home with Sonya Noskowiak, a tographer. Wilson is known to have been the author of
photographer in her own right but also Weston’s model the application, a four-page narrative, although Weston
and lover. Wilson stopped by Weston’s studio a few days signed it as his own.[7] The Fellowship provided a stipend
later, only to find that Weston had gone to Los Angeles on of $2,000, and with it they began traveling around the
business. Noskowiak welcomed her, brought out many of West. Together they traveled 16,697 miles in 187 days.
Weston’s prints for viewing and finally asked her if she At the end of the year Weston finally divorced his
would be interested in modeling for Weston. On April 22, wife, Flora, after 16 years of separation.
1934, Wilson posed for the first of what would be hun- The following year the Guggenheim Fellowship was
dreds of photographs, both nude and clothed. renewed, and Weston and Wilson settled down to print-
After the second modeling session, Weston wrote in ing and cataloging much of his work. They moved to a
his daybooks "a new love come into my life…one which, I new home on Wildcat Hill near Carmel, where in a sep-
believe, will stand the test of time."[3] Posing for Weston arate building Wilson finally had a place of her own to
elevated Wilson’s feelings for him far beyond her initial write. She began a narrative of her travels with Weston,
ardor. She wrote "During photographic sessions, Edward which was published the next year as Seeing California with
made a model feel totally aware of herself. It was beyond Edward Weston.
exhibitionism or narcissism, it was more like a state of in- On April 24, 1939, Wilson and Weston were married
duced hypnosis, or of meditation." [4] She became com- in Elk, California. Soon after she began writing the text
pletely enamored of Weston, and he of her. Within a for their next and perhaps most famous book, California
few months time they were lovers. Noskowiak, who was and the West, which was published in 1940. In 1941 Weston
still living with Weston at the time, seemed to be aware was asked to take photos for a new edition of Walt Whit-
of their relationship but might have tolerated it in the man’s Leaves of Grass. Once again Wilson and Weston trav-
hopes that it would not last. eled around the country while he took photographs for
After the initial modeling sessions Weston became the Whitman book.
completely captivated by Wilson. He made 31 pho- It was during this trip that Wilson and Weston had
tographs of her nude form in 1934 alone, each laboriously begun to drift apart. He continued to be fascinated with
visualized and captured with his 4 X 5 Graflex camera, younger women and he devoted more and more time to
then hand developed and printed in his small dark- his photography at the expense of their relationship. Wil-
room.[5] For the next two years she was his exclusive son, in turn, was growing tired of putting his interests
model. first. She wanted to write more, and she wanted to con-
In mid-1935 Weston moved to Los Angeles for a pro- nect with other people.
ject funded by the Works Progress Administration, and She became involved in documenting labor struggles
he asked Wilson to live with him there. His youngest in Northern California, and during her research she met
sons, Neil and Cole, alternately lived with them and with a labor activist named Noel Harris. The two became ro-
their mother. His older sons, Brett and Chandler (who mantically involved, and Wilson decided it was finally
were also a few years older than Wilson), had opened a time to break from Weston. On December 13, 1946, she
photography studio in the area, and Weston used it as a filed divorce papers. Weston waived his right to object,
base of operations for his project. and he casually wrote to Beaumont Newhall "Charis is in
During this same period Weston switched from a 4 X 5 Reno getting a divorce. Cole in L.A. getting new Chevro-
camera to an 8 X 10 view camera.[6] Using the larger cam- let."[1]
era he made a series of nudes of Wilson, beginning with
an iconic study of her in the doorway of their home (Nude
(Charis, Santa Monica)). Later, he made his most graphic
Later life
photos of her at Oceano Dunes, which was then a iso- Just one day after her divorce from Weston was finalized,
lated area of massive sand dunes. Wilson said she found Wilson married Harris. They had two daughters, one of
the place "magical" and had no trouble shedding any last whom was murdered in Scotland in 1967. That same year
semblances of inhibition that might have remained. She Harris and Wilson divorced. She moved to Santa Cruz and
recalled that Weston was concentrating on photograph- lived close to her other daughter Rachel Fern Harris for
ing the landscape, when she took off her clothes and the rest of her life.
2
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Charis Wilson
After the separation from Weston, Wilson was oc- edward_weston/
cupied among others as a union secretary and creative edward_weston_chronology3.htm. Retrieved
writing teacher.[8] In 1977 Wilson wrote the introduction 2009-11-23.
for a book of photographs, Edward Weston Nudes, which [7] Arthur Ollman. "Museum of Photographic Arts.
is now sought after by collectors. In 2007 she was the The Model Wife: Excerpts from the book The Model
subject of a documentary, Eloquent Nude. Her memoir, Wife by Arthur Ollman". http://www.tfaoi.com/aa/
Through Another Lens, written with Wendy Madar, was 2aa/2aa373b.htm. Retrieved 2009-11-23.
published in 1999. [8] NY Times, retrieved 10 December, 2009
At the time of her death she and her daughter, [9] Wallace Baine. "The woman in the picture: Beyond
Rachel, were staying at the home of poet Joseph her fame as Edward Weston’s nude model Charis
Stroud.[9] Wilson lived a full, three-dimensional life".
http://www.mercurynews.com/california/
References ci_13863445. Retrieved 2009-11-27.
[1] ^ Wilson, Charis; Wendy Madar (1998). Through
Another Lens: My Life with Edward Weston. NY: Farrar,
External links
Strauss and Giroux. pp. 17–55. ISBN 0865475210. • The Eloquent Nude: The Love and Legacy and
[2] ^ "Smithsonian Archives of American Art: Charis Edward Weston and Charis Wilson
Wilson interview, 1982 Mar. 24". • Weston Family History – Charis Wilson Weston
http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/oralhistories/ Persondata
transcripts/wilson82.htm. Retrieved 2009-11-27.
Name Wilson, Charis
[3] ^ Weston, Edward (1972). The Daybooks of Edward
Weston. 2. Millerton,NY: Aperture. p. 283. Alternative names
[4] ^ Wilson, Charis (1977). Edward Weston Nudes. Short description
Millerton, NY: Aperture. pp. introduction. Date of birth May 5, 1914
ISBN 0-89381-020-7.
Place of birth
[5] ^ Stebbins Jr., Theodore E. (1989). Weston’s Westons:
Portraits and Nudes. Boston: Museum of Fine Arts. Date of death November 20, 2009
ISBN 0-8212-2142-6. Place of death
[6] Richard J. Rinehart. "Edward Weston: A Detailed
Chronology". http://www.kimweston.com/
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Charis_Wilson&oldid=434354983"
Categories:
• American artists' models
• Women photographers
• 1914 births
• 2009 deaths
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