Front / Recto

  • Title Cedar Street from William Street, Manhattan
  • Negative Date March 26, 1936
  • Print Date 1936–55
  • Medium Gelatin silver print
  • Dimensions Image 9 1/2 x 7 1/4" (24.1 x 18.4 cm)
    Mount 10 13/16 × 7 15/16" (27.4 × 20.1 cm)
  • Place Taken New York
  • Credit Line Thomas Walther Collection. Abbott-Levy Collection funds, by exchange
  • MoMA Accession Number 1601.2001
  • Copyright © 2015 Berenice Abbott/Commerce Graphics

Back / Verso

  • Mount Type Mount (original)
  • Marks and Inscriptions Signed in pencil on mount recto, bottom-right corner: BERENICE ABBOTT. Stamped in red ink on mount verso, bottom-right corner: FEDERA [stamp is cut off (for complete stamp see 1599.2001)].
  • Provenance Provenance: The artist, New York. Probably Carol Dorsky, New York, or Martina Hamilton, New York, or Harry Lunn [1]; purchased by Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York [2]; purchased by Thomas Walther, July 1995 [3]; purchased by The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2001.
    [1] Alicia Colen (Howard Greenberg Gallery), e-mail to Maria Morris Hambourg, November 5, 2013.
    [2] Ibid.
    [3] Howard Greenberg Gallery invoice no. 95-0433, July 18, 1995.

Surface

  • Surface Sheen Semireflective
  • Techniques Mount
    Contact print
  • PTM
    View of the recto of the artwork made using reflectance transformation imaging (RTI) software, which exaggerates subtle surface details and renders the features of the artwork plainly visible. Department of Conservation, MoMA
  • Micro-raking
    Raking-light close-up image, as shot. Area of detail is 6.7 x 6.7 mm. Department of Conservation, MoMA
    Raking-light close-up image, processed. Processing included removal of color, equalization of the histogram, and sharpening, all designed to enhance visual comparison. Department of Conservation, MoMA

Paper Material

  • Format Imperial
  • UV Fluorescence Recto negative
    Verso no data
  • Fiber Analysis No fiber data available
  • Material Techniques Developing-out paper
  • XRF

    This work was determined to be a gelatin silver print via X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometry.

    The following elements have been positively identified in the work, through XRF readings taken from its recto and verso (or from the mount, where the verso was not accessible):

    • Recto: Al, P, S, Cl, Ca, Zn, Sr, Ag, Ba
    • Mount: Mg, Al, Si, S, Ca, Fe, Zn, Sr

    The graphs below show XRF spectra for three areas on the print: two of the recto—from areas of maximum and minimum image density (Dmax and Dmin)—and one of the verso or mount. The background spectrum represents the contribution of the XRF instrument itself. The first graph shows elements identified through the presence of their characteristic peaks in the lower energy range (0 to 8 keV). The second graph shows elements identified through the presence of their characteristic peaks in the higher energy range (8 to 40 keV).

    Areas examined: Recto (Dmax: black; Dmin: green), Verso or Mount (blue), Background (red)
    Elements identified: Mg, Al, Si, P, S, Cl, Ca, Ag, Ba
    Areas examined: Recto (Dmax: black; Dmin: green), Verso or Mount (blue), Background (red)
    Elements identified: Fe, Zn, Sr, Ag

In Context

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