Untitled

Front / Recto

• Title Untitled
• Negative Date 1930s
• Print Date 1930–39
• Medium Gelatin silver print
• Dimensions Image 4 13/16 x 6 11/16" (12.2 x 17 cm)
  
• Place Taken Prague
• Credit Line Thomas Walther Collection. Gift of Mrs. Raymond C. Collins, by exchange
• MoMA Accession Number 1680.2001
• Copyright © 2015 Tino and Julia Hammid

Back / Verso

• Mount Type No mount - evidence previous mount
• Marks and Inscriptions Orange-and-white label affixed to sheet verso, top right, with text printed in black ink: 50 [oriented upside down with respect to image]. Signed in blue ink on sheet verso, bottom right: A. Hackenschmied [oriented upside down with respect to image].
• Provenance The artist. Otto Eisler (1893–1968), Brno [1]; by inheritance to the estate of Otto Eisler, 1968 [2]; sold through Sotheby's London (sale 9306, lot 293) to Thomas Walther, May 6, 1999 [3]; purchased by The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2001.
  [1] Photographs: Sotheby's London, Thursday 6 May 1999 (London: Sotheby's, 1999), pp. 88–89.
  [2] Ibid.
  [3] Sotheby’s invoice no. L098060076, May 6, 1999.

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 Metric
• Weight Double weight
• Thickness (mm) 0.32
• UV Fluorescence Recto negative
  Verso negative
• Fiber Analysis Softwood bleached sulfite 99%
  Hardwood bleached sulfite 1%
  
• Material Techniques Developing-out paper
  Baryta-less 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, Cl, Ca, Cr, Zn, Sr, Ag, Ba, Pb
  • Verso: Al, Si, S, K, Ca, 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, Cl, K, Ca, Cr, Ag, Ba

  

  Areas examined: Recto (Dmax: black; Dmin: green), Verso or Mount (blue), Background (red)
  Elements identified: Zn, Sr, Ag, Pb

In Context

Historic Videos

Related People

• Artist

  • Alexander Hackenschmied
    

Related Links

• Cultural Hubs Prague