Front / Recto

  • Title Test for the Film "Culte Vaudou," Exposition 1937 (Essai pour le film "Culte Vaudou," Exposition 1937)
  • Negative Date 1936
  • Print Date 1936–39
  • Medium Gelatin silver print with cellophane sheet
  • Dimensions Image 11 9/16 x 9 1/16" (29.3 x 23 cm)
    Mount 12 13/16 x 9 15/16" (32.5 x 25.3 cm)
  • Place Taken Paris
  • Credit Line Thomas Walther Collection. Gift of Shirley C. Burden, by exchange
  • MoMA Accession Number 1880.2001

Back / Verso

  • Mount Type Mount (original)
  • Marks and Inscriptions Signed in pencil on mount recto, bottom right: tabard 36-. Stamped in black ink on mount verso, center: MAURICE/TABARD. Stamped in black ink on mount verso, center: PHOTO/Maurice TABARD/PARIS.
  • Provenance The artist, Paris; to Christian Diener, Berlin [1]; purchased by Thomas Walther; purchased by The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2001.
    [1] MacGill/Walther 2000, p. 37; and Christian Diener, letter to Simon Bieling, June 4, 2005.

Surface

  • Surface Sheen Glossy
  • Techniques Retouching (additive)
    Enlargement
    Lamination
    Solarization
  • 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 Metric
  • UV Fluorescence Recto no data
    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, Ca, Zn, Sr, Ag, Ba, Pb
    • Mount: Mg, 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: Mg, 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, Pb

In Context

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