Untitled (Chrysler Building under Construction)

Front / Recto

• Title Untitled (Chrysler Building under Construction)
• Negative Date Late November 1929
• Print Date 1929–55
• Medium Gelatin silver print
• Dimensions Image 13 9/16 × 10 1/8" (34.5 × 25.7 cm)
  Mount 18 9/16 × 14 1/4" (47.2 × 36.2 cm)
  
• Place Taken New York
• Credit Line Thomas Walther Collection. Abbott-Levy Collection funds, by exchange
• MoMA Accession Number 1706.2001

Back / Verso

• Mount Type Mount (later)
• Marks and Inscriptions Signed in black crayon on strip of paper affixed to mount recto, bottom center: Reinhart Hofmeister. Inscribed in pencil on mount verso, bottom right: TW 791112.
• Provenance Purchased by Thomas Walther, November 1979–November 1982 [1]; purchased by The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2001.
  [1] Thomas Walther archival no. TW 791112 on mount verso; and Jose Oraca, conservation treatment report and statement prepared for Thomas Walther, November 29, 1982.

Surface

• Surface Sheen Matte
• Techniques Mount
  Retouching (additive)
  Enlargement
  
• PTM
  

  Detail 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, Ca, Zn, Sr, Ag, Ba
  • Mount: P, Ca, Fe, Cu, Zn

  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, P, S, Ca, Ag, Ba

  

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

In Context

Related People

• Artist

  • Unknown photographer
    

• Architectural Firm

  • Reinhard & Hofmeister
    

Related Links

• Cultural Hubs New York