Edward Weston

I saw a show of his photographs at the Phillips Collection in D.C. = abstracted shadow and shapes in nature; an obsession with curves and lumps. Did for the radish what Mapplethorpe did for the penis? An utter abolition of grit --> classic or dud? Seeing a butt cheek in every vegetable --> revolutionary at the time? (Basic frustration = how to see the newness in it through 8 decades of gradual normativity. I think what I needed was a BIOG. Wall-mounted capsule histories included things like "Weston then was introduced to Mssrs. X and Y who 'encouraged his bohemian tendencies'" I want MORE in order to see how it was diff't from what was going on at the time. No doubt the pix are beautiful but to my eyes now they look like some combo of Martha Stewart centerfolds and Sierra Club brochures. Anybody got better knowledge about where this guy fits?