East Sussex Coast

Front / Recto

Title East Sussex Coast (Perspective of Nudes, No. 47)
Negative Date 1957
Print Date 1957–69
Medium Gelatin silver print
Dimensions Image 9 × 7 13/16" (22.8 × 19.8 cm)
Sheet 9 15/16 × 8 1/16" (25.3 × 20.4 cm)
Place Taken Seaford
Credit Line Thomas Walther Collection. Gift of Thomas Walther
MoMA Accession Number 1637.2001
Copyright © 2015 Estate of Bill Brandt

Mount Type No mount
Marks and Inscriptions Inscribed in pencil on sheet verso, top right: v.p. Stamped in black ink on sheet verso, center: BILL BRANDT. Inscribed in brown ink on sheet verso, center: 8. Stamped in black ink on sheet verso, bottom left: COLLECTION ROMEO MARTINEZ [with circular outline]. Inscribed in pencil on sheet verso, bottom: ↔ and [illegible].
Provenance The artist; to the artist's estate (Noya Brandt), London; to Edwynn Houk, Chicago, 1989 [1]; to Stephen Daiter Photography & Books, Chicago, c. 1990 [2]; purchased by Thomas Walther, May 21, 1996 [3]; given to The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2001.
[1] MacGill/Walther 2001(4), p. 2; and Matthew Ortiz (Edwynn Houk Gallery), e-mail to Maria Morris Hambourg, April 30, 2014.
[2] MacGill/Walther 2001(4), p. 2; and Ortiz, e-mail to Hambourg.
[3] MacGill/Walther 2001(4), p. 2; Ortiz, e-mail to Hambourg; and Stephen Daiter Photography & Books invoice no. 86-00027, May 21, 1996.

Surface Sheen Semireflective
Techniques Retouching (additive)
Enlargement
Retouching (reductive)
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

Format Unknown
Weight Single weight
Thickness (mm) 0.17
UV Fluorescence Recto positive
Verso positive
Fiber Analysis Softwood bleached sulfite 89%
Hardwood bleached sulfite 11%
Softwood bleached sulfite
Material Techniques Developing-out paper
XRF
This work was determined to be agelatin 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, Ca, Zn, Sr, Ag, Ba
- Verso: Al, Si, P, 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