Front / Recto

  • Title The Couple (Le Couple)
  • Negative Date 1932
  • Print Date 1932–55
  • Medium Gelatin silver print
  • Dimensions Image 4 9/16 × 5 7/8" (11.6 × 14.9 cm)
    Mount 11 x 8 7/16" (28 x 21.5 cm)
  • Place Taken Timmendorfer Strand
  • Credit Line Thomas Walther Collection. Abbott-Levy Collection funds, by exchange
  • MoMA Accession Number 1768.2001
  • Copyright © 2015 Herbert List/Magnum Photos

Back / Verso

  • Mount Type Mount
  • Marks and Inscriptions Inscribed in pencil on mount recto, top left and right: m and m. Inscribed in pencil on mount recto, center right: Hamburg, 1932. Inscribed in pencil on mount recto, center left: Seite 8A. Inscribed in pencil on mount recto, bottom right: Prisma 11|14,9|11,6. Inscribed in pencil on mount verso, top left: g67. Stamped in black ink on mount verso, top center: COPYRIGHT/HERBERT LIST/MÜNCHEN 13/AINMILLERSTR. 26 [with rectangular outline]. Inscribed in pencil on mount verso, bottom right: TW 830504.
  • Provenance The artist. Possibly the List estate, Kaspar Fleischmann, or Galerie Rudolf Kicken, Cologne [1]; to Manfred Heiting [2]; sold through Sotheby's New York (sale 5043, lot 453) to Thomas Walther, May 10, 1983 [3]; purchased by The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2001.
    [1] Manfred Heiting, telephone conversation with Maria Morris Hambourg, 2013.
    [2] Ibid.
    [3] Sotheby’s invoice no. 5043 108, May 10, 1983, annotated with Thomas Walther archival no. TW 830504; and Walther archival no. TW 830504 on mount verso.

Surface

  • Surface Sheen Glossy
  • Techniques Mount
    Enlargement
    Ferrotyping
  • 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 Metric
  • 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, S, Cl, Ca, Zn, Sr, Ag, Ba
    • Verso or mount: not available

    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), Background (red)
    Elements identified: Al, S, Cl, Ca, Ag, Ba
    Areas examined: Recto (Dmax: black; Dmin: green), Background (red)
    Elements identified: Zn, Sr, Ag

In Context

Related People

For best results, please enable JavaScript.