Front / Recto

  • Title Untitled
  • Negative Date c. 1930
  • Print Date 1930–39
  • Medium Gelatin silver print
  • Dimensions Image 6 5/16 × 8 3/8" (16.1 × 21.2 cm)
  • Place Taken Paris
  • Credit Line Thomas Walther Collection. Mrs. Charles Liebman Fund, by exchange
  • MoMA Accession Number 1623.2001

Back / Verso

  • Mount Type No mount
  • Marks and Inscriptions Stamped in red ink on sheet verso, bottom left: geo. blanc/photographe illustrateur/33 bis, bould bourdon/paris, IV arrondiss./téléph : archives 77.40 [with broken square outline]. Stamped in red ink on sheet verso, bottom right: REPRODUCTION/INTERDITE/Tous droits réservés. Inscribed in pencil on sheet verso, bottom left: 13 [underlined]. Inscribed in pencil on sheet verso, bottom center: GB 14433. Inscribed in pencil on sheet verso, bottom right: GB-14940-Z [crossed out].
  • Provenance The artist. Sold through Sotheby's New York to Zabriskie Gallery, New York, February 21, 1989 [1]; purchased by Thomas Walther [2]; purchased by The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2001.
    [1] Zabriskie Gallery inventory no. GB14433 on sheet verso; and Virginia Zabriskie, e-mail to Maria Morris Hambourg, October 4, 2013. The photograph originally came to Virginia Zabriskie in a mat from the École Nationale Supérieure de la Photographie, Arles.
    [2] Zabriskie, e-mail to Hambourg.

Surface

  • Surface Sheen Matte
  • 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 Unknown
  • Weight Double weight
  • Thickness (mm) 0.29
  • UV Fluorescence Recto negative
    Verso negative
  • Fiber Analysis Softwood bleached sulfite 51%
    Softwood bleached sulfite 49%
  • 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, Si, S, K, Ca, Zn, Sr, Ag, Ba, Pb
    • Verso: Al, Si, S, K, Ca, Fe, Zn, Sr, Ba, Pb

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

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