Self-Portrait

Front / Recto

Title Self-Portrait (Selbstporträt)
Negative Date 1930
Print Date 1930–35
Medium Gelatin silver print
Dimensions Image 9 5/16 × 7 1/16" (23.6 × 17.9 cm)
Place Taken Amsterdam
Credit Line Thomas Walther Collection. Gift of Thomas Walther
MoMA Accession Number 1653.2001
Copyright © 2015 Paul Citroen/Artist Rights Society (ARS), New York/Pictoright, Amsterdam

Mount Type No mount
Marks and Inscriptions Inscribed in pencil on sheet verso, top center: SELBSTPORTRÄT 1930 [inscribed over 1932]. Signed in pencil on sheet verso, top center: Paul Citroen. Inscribed in pencil on sheet verso, bottom right: TW 841106.
Provenance The artist, Wassenaar, the Netherlands; to Egidio Marzona, Berlin/Bielefeld, 1977 [1]; to Van Deren Coke [2]; consigned to Prakapas Gallery, Bronxville, N.Y. [3]; purchased by Thomas Walther, November 1984 [4]; given to The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2001.
[1] Egidio Marzona, conversation with Thomas Walther, Berlin, April 2014.
[2] MacGill/Walther 2001(4), p. 3; Eugene Prakapas, telephone conversation with Simon Bieling, April 4, 2005; and William F. Cuozzi (on behalf of Dorothy Augusta Prakapas), letter to Maria Morris Hambourg, October 2013.
[3] MacGill/Walther 2001(4), p. 3; and Cuozzi, letter to Hambourg.
[4] Prakapas Gallery invoice, November 2, 1984, annotated with Thomas Walther archival no. TW 841106.

Surface Sheen Semireflective
Techniques 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

Format Metric
Weight Double weight
Thickness (mm) 0.38
UV Fluorescence Recto negative
Verso negative
Fiber Analysis Softwood bleached sulfite 80%
Hardwood bleached sulfite 15%
Rag 3%
Bast 2%
Material Techniques Developing-out paper
Baryta-less 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, Si, S, Cl, K, Ca, Cr, Fe, Zn, Ag
- Verso: Al, Si, S, K, Ca, Cr, 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, Si, S, Cl, K, Ca, Cr, Ag

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