Untitled

Front / Recto

Title Untitled (Self-Portrait)
Negative Date July 1927
Print Date 1927
Medium Gelatin silver print
Dimensions Image 2 15/16 × 2 3/16" (7.4 × 5.5 cm)
Sheet 5 1/4 × 2 3/8" (13.3 × 6 cm)
Place Taken Paris
Credit Line Thomas Walther Collection. Gift of Thomas Walther
MoMA Accession Number 1725.2001
Copyright © Estate of André Kertész

Back / Verso

Mount Type No mount
Marks and Inscriptions
Inscribed in pencil across entire sheet verso: Pistának szeretettel, úgy is mint model, és úgy is mint/Kertész [1]/Paris, 1927, júli 20. Signed in pencil on sheet verso, bottom left: Kertész.

[1] "To Pista with love, both as a model and as Kertész" (a play on the artist's name, which means "gardener" in Hungarian; Pista is a nickname for István).
Provenance The artist, Paris; to István (Étienne) Beöthy (1897–1961), Paris, July 1927 [1]; by inheritance to István Beöthy's wife, Anna Beöthy, Paris, 1961 [2]; to Galerie Wilde (Ann and Jürgen Wilde), Cologne, 1980 [3]; purchased by Thomas Walther, 1980 [4]; given to The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2001.
[1] Jürgen Wilde, letter to Simon Bieling, May 12, 2005; and inscription by the artist on sheet verso.
[2] Ibid.; and MacGill/Walther 2001(4), p. 6.
[3] MacGill/Walther 2001(4), p. 6; and Wilde, letter to Bieling.
[4] MacGill/Walther 2001(4), p. 6; and Wilde, letter to Bieling.

Back Printing

Detail showing Guilleminot manufacturer logo (horse’s head in horseshoe/star) with postal type printed in ink on the verso of the photograph. In image processing, contrast was adjusted to enhance the readability of the logo. The area of detail is 2 x 4.5 cm. Department of Conservation, MoMA

Surface

Surface Sheen Semireflective
Techniques Retouching (additive)
Contact print
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
Weight Double weight
Thickness (mm) 0.29
UV Fluorescence Recto negative
Verso negative
Fiber Analysis Softwood bleached sulfite 97%
Grass 3%
Material Techniques Developing-out paper
Back printing
Photographic postcard
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, Si, P, S, Cl, Ca, Zn, Sr, Ag, Ba, Pb
- Verso: Al, Si, Ca, Fe, Zn, Sr, Ba, 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, Cl, Ca, Ag, Ba

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