In 1979, Richard Avedon packed his antiquated Deardorff camera into a Chevy Suburban and drove across Texas, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Colorado, California, and 15 other American states, "hoping to capture an essence of the regions through the people who lived there." It took him five years to complete his series "In the American West"--a catalog of miners, drifters, dryland farmers, prisoners, undocumented migrants, truckers, factory workers and meat packers that has taken its place as one of the photographer's great achievements. A unique selection of the images is on view at London's Gagosian gallery in an exhibition curated by Avedon's granddaughter, Caroline Avedon.

  Frank Webster paints landscapes, from delicate, page-size watercolors to works on canvas that span close to ten feet in width. Above: Monacobreen IV, acrylic on canvas, 2024. He seems equally at home painting on a Zodiac in the frozen North—and in the even more frozen South, as he is working the finishing touches In his studio. Based on what he brings in to Studio 12 at the Art Students League, where he teaches watercolor techniques, I asked him about his library. This is...