Front / Recto

  • Title Lower East Side
  • Negative Date 1942
  • Print Date 1942–55
  • Medium Gelatin silver print
  • Dimensions Image 16 3/4 × 13 7/16" (42.5 × 34.2 cm)
    Mount 16 3/4 × 13 7/16" (42.5 × 34.2 cm)
  • Place Taken New York
  • Credit Line Thomas Walther Collection. Bequest of Grace M. Mayer, by exchange
  • MoMA Accession Number 1788.2001
  • Copyright © 2015 Estate of Lisette Model, courtesy Baudoin Lebon Gallery, Paris and Keitelman Gallery, Brussels

Back / Verso

  • Mount Type Mount (original)
  • Marks and Inscriptions Inscribed in pencil on mount verso, top center: 3. Inscribed in pencil on mount verso, center: MODEL and 3 [circled]. Inscribed in pencil on mount verso, bottom left: PF 3991. Inscribed in pencil on mount verso, bottom right: T 880202.
  • Provenance The artist, New York; to Sander Gallery (Gerd Sander), Washington, D.C./New York, 1977–82 [1]; to Simon Lowinsky, New York, c. 1988 [2]; to Photofind Gallery (Howard Greenberg), New York, 1988 [3]; purchased by Thomas Walther, February 1988 [4]; purchased by The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2001.
    [1] MacGill/Walther 2001(3), p. 15; Gerd Sander, e-mail to Simon Bieling, November 27, 2005; Sander, letter to Maria Morris Hambourg, October 31, 2013; and Alicia Colen (Howard Greenberg Gallery), e-mail to Hambourg, November 5, 2013.
    [2] MacGill/Walther 2001(3), p. 15; and Colen, e-mail to Hambourg.
    [3] MacGill/Walther 2001(3), p. 15; and Colen, e-mail to Hambourg.
    [4] Photofind Gallery invoice, February 4, 1998, inventory no. 003991, annotated with Thomas Walther archival no. TW 880202; and Walther archival no. T 880202 on mount verso.

Surface

  • Surface Sheen Semireflective
  • Techniques Mount
    Retouching (additive)
    Enlargement
  • PTM
    Detail 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 Imperial
  • 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: Al, P, S, Zn, Sr, Ag, Ba, Pb
    • Mount: Al, Si, S, K, Ca, Ti, Fe, Cu, Zn, Sr, 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, K, Ca, Ti, Ag, Ba
    Areas examined: Recto (Dmax: black; Dmin: green), Verso or Mount (blue), Background (red)
    Elements identified: Fe, Cu, Zn, Sr, Ag, Pb

In Context

Related Images

Lisette Model. Lower East Side. 1942. Gelatin silver print, 19 5/8 x 15 15/16" (49.8 x 40.5 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of the photographer. © 2014 Estate of Lisette Model, courtesy Baudoin Lebon Gallery, Paris and Keitelman Gallery, Brussels
Lisette Model. Lower East Side. 1944. Gelatin silver print, 13 9/16 x 10 9/16" (34.5 x 26.9 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Purchase. © 2014 Estate of Lisette Model, courtesy Baudoin Lebon Gallery, Paris and Keitelman Gallery, Brussels

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