Front / Recto

  • Title Henri Cartier-Bresson
  • Negative Date 1935
  • Print Date 1935–39
  • Medium Gelatin silver print
  • Dimensions Image 9 x 7 1/4" (22.8 x 18.4 cm)
    Mount 14 x 11" (35.5 x 28 cm)
  • Place Taken New York
  • Credit Line Thomas Walther Collection. Abbott-Levy Collection funds, by exchange
  • MoMA Accession Number 1774.2001
  • Copyright © 2015 Estate of George Platt Lynes

Back / Verso

  • Mount Type Mount (original)
  • Marks and Inscriptions Signed in black marker on mount recto, bottom right: Lynes-. Inscribed in black ink on mount recto, bottom left: beaucoup d'amitiés/[crossed out]/Henri. Stamped in black ink on mount verso, top: GEORGE PLATT LYNES/214 EAST 58TH STREET, NEW YORK.
  • Provenance The artist. Possibly to Julien Levy; possibly to Carlton Gallery (Carlton Willers), New York, probably 1980 [1]; purchased by Allan Frumkin Gallery Photographs Inc. (Carol Ehlers), Chicago [2]; purchased by Thomas Walther, October 20, 1980 [3]; purchased by The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2001.
    [1] Carol Ehlers, e-mail to Simon Bieling, April 19, 2005; and Ehlers, letter to Audrey Sands, October 18, 2013; Carlton Willers, letter to Maria Morris Hambourg, Augusr 23, 2014.
    [2] MacGill/Walther 2000, p. 23.
    [3] Allan Frumkin Gallery Photographs Inc. invoice, October 20, 1980, annotated with Thomas Walther archival no. TW 801002.

Surface

  • Surface Sheen Semireflective
  • Techniques Mount
    Enlargement
    Retouching in negative
  • 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
  • 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, Fe, Zn, Rb, Sr, Ag, Ba, Pb
    • Mount: Al, Si, P, S, K, Ca, Ti, Ba, Fe, Zn, Rb, Sr, 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, P, S, K, Ca, Ti, Ag, Ba
    Areas examined: Recto (Dmax: black; Dmin: green), Verso or Mount (blue), Background (red)
    Elements identified: Fe, Zn, Rb, Sr, Ag, Pb

In Context

Related People

Related Links

For best results, please enable JavaScript.