Front / Recto

  • Title Fish in Profile (Gueule de poisson de profil)
  • Negative Date 1930
  • Print Date 1930–35
  • Medium Gelatin silver print
  • Dimensions Image 10 7/16 × 14 5/16" (26.5 × 36.4 cm)
    Sheet 10 3/4 × 14 11/16" (27.3 × 37.3 cm)
    Mount 10 3/4 × 14 11/16" (27.3 × 37.3 cm)
  • Place Taken Paris
  • Credit Line Thomas Walther Collection. Gift of Monroe Wheeler, by exchange
  • MoMA Accession Number 1773.2001
  • Copyright © 2015 Les documents cinématographiques, Paris

Back / Verso

  • Mount Type Mount (original)
  • Marks and Inscriptions Inscribed in pencil on mount verso, bottom right: ELI LOTAR OR/JEAN PAINLEVE.
  • Provenance The artist, Paris; probably by inheritance to the artist's estate; sold through Hôtel Drouot, Paris, to Herbert Molderings, Cologne, October 14, 1985 [1]; purchased by Thomas Walther; purchased by The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2001.
    [1] MacGill/Walther 2000, p. 23; and Nouveau Drouot catalogue for October 14, 1985, sale, cat. 44.

Surface

  • Surface Sheen Semireflective
  • Techniques Mount
    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 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: P, S, Cl, Ca, Zn, Sr, Br, Ag, Pb
    • Mount: Al, Si, S, K, 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, K, Ca, Ag, Ba
    Areas examined: Recto (Dmax: black; Dmin: green), Verso or Mount (blue), Background (red)
    Elements identified: Fe, Zn, Sr, Ag, Pb

In Context

Historic Videos

Jean Painlevé. La Pieuvre (The octopus). 1927. 35mm film, black and white, silent, 13 min. © Les documents cinématographiques, Paris

Historical Publications

  • Cinémonde, October 15, 1931.

Historical Exhibitions

  • Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Pavillon de Marsan, Paris. Exposition internationale de la photographie contemporaine (no. 815, as Poisson vu de profil). January 16–March 1, 1936.

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