Front / Recto

  • Title Untitled
  • Negative Date 1932–41
  • Print Date 1932–60
  • Medium Gelatin silver print
  • Dimensions Image 11 9/16 × 9 1/8" (29.3 × 23.1 cm)
  • Place Taken Tokyo
  • Credit Line Thomas Walther Collection. Abbott-Levy Collection funds, by exchange
  • MoMA Accession Number 1860.2001
  • Copyright © 2015 Estate of Osamu Shiihara, care of Tomatsu Shiihara, Japan

Back / Verso

  • Mount Type No mount
  • Marks and Inscriptions White sticker affixed to sheet verso, top left, with numbers inscribed in pencil: 480. Inscribed in pencil on sheet verso, top right: 87-265. Inscribed in pencil on sheet verso, bottom left: A-53.
  • Provenance The artist, Osaka; by inheritance to the artist’s son, Tamotsu Shiihara, Osaka, 1974 [1]; to Priska Pasquer, Photographic Art Consulting, Cologne, 1998 [2]; purchased by Thomas Walther, June 22, 1998 [3]; purchased by The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2001.
    [1] MacGill/Walther 2001(3), p. 21; and Priska Pasquer, letter to Maria Morris Hambourg, October 28, 2013.
    [2] MacGill/Walther 2001(3), p. 21; and Pasquer, letter to Hambourg.
    [3] MacGill/Walther 2001(3), p. 21; and Priska Pasquer, Photographic Art Consulting invoice, June 22, 1998.

Surface

  • Surface Sheen Glossy
  • Techniques Ferrotyping
    Enlargement via lateral projection
  • 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
  • Weight Single weight
  • Thickness (mm) 0.20
  • UV Fluorescence Recto negative
    Verso negative
  • 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, Ca, Zn, Sr, Ag, Ba
    • Verso: Al, S, Ca, Zn, Sr, Ba

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

In Context

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