Front / Recto
- Title Friends (Freundinnen)
- Negative Date 1930
- Print Date 1930–36
- Medium Gelatin silver print
- Dimensions Image 9 3/8 × 7 1/16" (23.8 × 18 cm)
- Place Taken Amsterdam
- Credit Line Thomas Walther Collection. Gift of Frederick Sommer, by exchange
- MoMA Accession Number 1652.2001
- Copyright © 2015 Paul Citroen/Artist Rights Society (ARS), New York/Pictoright, Amsterdam
Back / Verso
- Mount Type No mount
- Marks and Inscriptions Signed in pencil on sheet verso, top center: Paul Citroen. Inscribed in pencil on sheet verso, top center: Freundinnen. Inscribed in blue pen on sheet verso, bottom: Hans Ijzerman [oriented upside down with respect to image]. Inscribed in pencil on sheet verso, bottom right: TW 800603. Inscribed in pencil on sheet verso, along right edge: 1719.
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Provenance
The artist, Wassenaar, the Netherlands; to Galerie Rudolf Kicken, Cologne, 1979 [1]; to Allan Frumkin Gallery Photographs Inc. (Carol Ehlers), Chicago, November 1979 [2]; purchased by Thomas Walther, June 30, 1980 [3]; purchased by The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2001.
[1] Carol Ehlers, e-mail to Simon Bieling, April 19, 2005. Ina Schmidt-Runke (Galerie Rudolf Kicken), e-mail to Bieling, June 9, 2005; and e-mail to Maria Morris Hambourg, November 13, 2013. Rudolf Kicken was introduced to Citroen in the summer of 1979 and began working with him in September of that year.
[2] MacGill/Walther 2000, p. 7; Ehlers, letter to Audrey Sands, October 18, 2013; and Allan Frumkin Gallery Photographs Inc. inventory no. 1719.
[3] Allan Frumkin Gallery Photographs Inc. invoice, June 30, 1980, annotated with Thomas Walther archival no. TW 800603.
Surface
- Surface Sheen Semireflective
- Techniques Retouching (additive) Enlargement
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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 Single weight
- Thickness (mm) 0.18
- UV Fluorescence Recto negative Verso negative
- Fiber Analysis Softwood bleached sulfite 73% Rag 20% Bast 7%
- Material Techniques Developing-out paper
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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, Si, S, K, Ca, 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, Ag, Ba
Areas examined: Recto (Dmax: black; Dmin: green), Verso or Mount (blue), Background (red)
Elements identified: Fe, Zn, Sr, Ag
In Context
Related Images
Paul Citroën. Double Portrait. c. 1930. Gelatin silver print, 9 5/16 × 11 15/16" (23.7 × 30.3 cm). Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Gift of Manfred Heiting. The Manfred Heiting Collection. © Paul Citroën/Artist Rights Society (ARS), New York/ Pictoright, Amsterdam
Related People
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