Untitled

Front / Recto

• Title Untitled
• Negative Date 1929
• Print Date 1929–40
• Medium Gelatin silver print
• Dimensions Image 12 5/16 × 10 11/16" (31.3 × 27.2 cm)
  
• Place Taken Paris
• Credit Line Thomas Walther Collection. Gift of James Thrall Soby, by exchange
• MoMA Accession Number 1632.2001
• Copyright © Mme Denise Boiffard

Back / Verso

• Mount Type No mount
• Marks and Inscriptions Signed in pencil on sheet verso, center: j. a Boiffard/1929. Inscribed in pencil on sheet verso, bottom center: RMG# B19709198-c.
• Provenance The artist, Paris. Jean Painlevé (1902–1989), Paris, 1976 [1]; to Christian Bouqueret, 1985 [2]; to Robert Miller Gallery, New York, 1997 [3]; purchased by Thomas Walther, October 28, 1997 [4]; purchased by The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2001.
  [1] Christian Bouqueret, e-mail to Simon Bieling, October 27, 2005.
  [2] Ibid.; MacGill/Walther 2001(3), p. 3; and Royce Howes (Robert Miller Gallery), e-mail to Bieling, June 7, 2005.
  [3] MacGill/Walther 2001(3), p. 3; and Robert Miller Gallery archival no. RMG# B19709198-c on sheet verso.
  [4] Robert Miller Gallery invoice no. 9103P, October 28, 1997, annotated RMG# BI9709.198-C.

Surface

• Surface Sheen Semireflective
• Techniques Retouching (additive)
  Enlargement
  
• 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 Single weight
• Thickness (mm) 0.20
• UV Fluorescence Recto negative
  Verso negative
• Fiber Analysis Softwood bleached sulfite 96%
  Hardwood bleached sulfite 4%
  
• 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, Zn, Sr, Ag, Ba
  • Verso: Al, S, Ca, Zn, Sr, Ag, 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, P, 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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• Artist

  • Jacques-André Boiffard
    

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