Front / Recto

  • Title Still Life Composition (Composition Nature morte)
  • Negative Date 1932
  • Print Date 1932–55
  • Medium Gelatin silver print
  • Dimensions Image 9 1/4 × 10 13/16" (23.5 × 27.4 cm)
    Mount 9 1/4 × 10 13/16" (23.5 × 27.4 cm)
  • Place Taken Paris
  • Credit Line Thomas Walther Collection. Gift of Thomas Walther
  • MoMA Accession Number 1699.2001
  • Copyright © 2015 Florence Henri, Galleria Martini e Ronchetti, Genova, Italy

Back / Verso

  • Mount Type Mount
  • Marks and Inscriptions Signed in pencil on mount verso, center: Florence Henri. Stamped in black ink on mount verso, bottom right: Collection Romeo Martinez [with circular outline].
  • Provenance The artist, Paris [1]; to Romeo Martinez, Paris, 1952–73 [2]; sold through Sotheby's New York (sale 5043, lot 89) to Thomas Walther, May 10, 1983 [3]; given to The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2001.
    [1] Isabelle Chesenau (Maison européenne de la photographie, Paris), e-mail to Simon Bieling, June 9, 2005. Chesenau passed on a message from Jacqueline Martinez, Romeo Martinez's widow.
    [2] MacGill/Walther 2001(4), p. 5. Romeo Martinez, editor of Camera magazine from 1952 to 1973, published Henri's photographs in 1967.
    [3] Ibid.; and Sotheby's invoice no. 5043 108, May 10, 1983.

Surface

  • Retouch Detail
    Detail showing aqueous retouching applied with a brush. The area of detail is 14 x 22 mm. Department of Conservation, MoMA
    Detail showing aqueous retouching applied with a brush. The area of detail is 14 x 22 mm. Department of Conservation, MoMA
  • Surface Sheen Semireflective
  • Techniques Mount
    Retouching (additive)
    Enlargement
    Retouching (reductive)
    Photomontage
  • 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: S, Ca, Zn, Sr, Ag, Ba, Pb
    • 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: S, Ca, Ag, Ba
    Areas examined: Recto (Dmax: black; Dmin: green), Background (red)
    Elements identified: Zn, Sr, Ag, Pb

In Context

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