Front / Recto

  • Title Tina
  • Negative Date January 30, 1924
  • Print Date 1924–42
  • Medium Gelatin silver print
  • Dimensions Image 9 1/16 x 6 7/8" (23 x 17.5 cm)
    Mount 10 15/16 x 8 7/8" (27.8 x 22.6 cm)
  • Place Taken Mexico City
  • Credit Line Thomas Walther Collection. Grace M. Mayer Fund and The Fellows of Photography Fund, by exchange
  • MoMA Accession Number 1906.2001
  • Copyright © 1981 Center for Creative Photography, Arizona Board of Regents.

Back / Verso

  • Mount Type Mount (original)
  • Marks and Inscriptions Inscribed in pencil on mount recto, bottom right: EW 1924. Inscribed in pencil on mount verso, top left: 27 [circled]. Inscribed in pencil on mount verso, top left: 33PO/24. Inscribed in pencil on mount verso, center: E.
  • Provenance The artist; given to Tina Modotti (1896–1942) [1]; to Vittorio Vidali (1900–1983) [2]; by inheritance to Vidali’s son, Carlos Vidali, 1983 [3]; to Mildred Constantine, Nyack/New York, 1970s [4]; to Ex Libris (Arthur Cohen and Elaine Lustig Cohen), New York, 1970s [5]; purchased by Thomas Walther, April 12,1985 [6]; purchased by The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2001.
    [1] Spencer Throckmorton, letter to Audrey Sands, September 27, 2013.
    [2] Ibid.; and Mildred Constantine, conversation with Simon Bieling, New York June 21, 2005; Beth Gates Warren, email to Ksenia Nouril, December 10, 2014.
    [3] Throckmorton, letter to Sands; Warren, email to Nouril.
    [4] Ibid.; and MacGill/Walther 2001(3), p. 25.
    [5] MacGill/Walther 2001(3), p. 25.
    [6] Ex Libris invoice no. 8623, April 12, 1985.

Surface

  • Surface Sheen Semireflective
  • Techniques Mount
    Retouching (additive)
    Contact print
    Retouching in negative
  • 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 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, Ca, Zn, Sr, Ag, Ba
    • Mount: Al, S, Ca, Fe, Zn

    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, Ag, Ca, Ba
    Areas examined: Recto (Dmax: black; Dmin: green), Verso or Mount (blue), Background (red)
    Elements identified: Fe, Zn, Sr, Ag

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