Untitled still from The Magician (1926)

Front / Recto

• Title Untitled still from The Magician (1926)
• Negative Date 1925
• Print Date 1925
• Medium Gelatin silver print
• Dimensions Image 8 15/16 x 11 5/16" (22.7 x 28.8 cm)
  Sheet 9 3/16 × 11 1/2" (23.3 × 29.2 cm)
  
• Place Taken Nice
• Credit Line Thomas Walther Collection. Gift of Thomas Walther
• MoMA Accession Number 1755.2001

Back / Verso

• Mount Type No mount
• Marks and Inscriptions Inscribed in pencil on sheet verso, top: This picture was taken by my husband/Harry Lachman during the filming/of the Magician around 1925 in Nice/France for M.G.M./Tom Jacobson/Tai Lachman.
• Provenance The artist; to the artist’s wife, Jue Quon Tai Lachman; given to Tom Jacobson, San Diego [1]; purchased by Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York [2]; purchased by Thomas Walther, February 26, 1994 [3]; given to The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2001.
  [1] Alicia Colen (Howard Greenberg Gallery), e-mail to Maria Morris Hambourg, November 5, 2013; and inscription on print verso.
  [2] MacGill/Walther 2001(4), p. 9; and Colen, e-mail to Hambourg.
  [3] Howard Greenberg Gallery invoice no. 94-1050, February 26, 1994; MacGill/Walther 2001(4), p. 9; and Colen, e-mail to Hambourg.

Surface

• Surface Sheen Matte
• Techniques Retouching (additive)
  Enlargement
  Retouching (reductive)
  Double exposure
  
• 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 Unknown
• Weight Double weight
• Thickness (mm) 0.34
• UV Fluorescence Recto negative
  Verso negative
• Fiber Analysis Rag 82%
  Bast 18%
  
• 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: P, S, Ca, Cr, Zn, Sr, Ba, Ag
  • Verso: Al, Si, P, S, K, Ca, Cr, Fe, 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, Si, P, S, K, Ca, Cr, Ag, Ba

  

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

In Context

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Related People

• Artist

  • Harry Lachman