Study

Front / Recto

Title Study (Estudio)
Negative Date October 1932
Print Date 1932–39
Medium Gelatin silver print
Dimensions Image 3 3/8 × 4 1/2" (8.5 × 11.4 cm)
Sheet 3 1/2 × 4 11/16" (8.9 × 11.9 cm)
Place Taken Berlin
Credit Line Thomas Walther Collection. Gift of Thomas Walther
MoMA Accession Number 1662.2001
Copyright © 2015 Galería Jorge Mara-La Ruche/ The Estate of Horacio Coppola

Mount Type No mount
Marks and Inscriptions Signed in pencil on sheet verso, center: Horacio Coppola/Berlin, Oktober 1932. Inscribed in pencil on sheet verso, bottom right: TW 860403. Inscribed in black ink across entire sheet verso: [rectangle and diagonal line].
Provenance The artist; to Thomas Walther, probably April 1986 [1]; given to The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2001.
[1] MacGill/Walther 2001(4), p. 3; and Thomas Walther archival no. TW 860403 on sheet verso.

Surface Sheen Semireflective
Techniques Contact print
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) 0.27
UV Fluorescence Recto negative
Verso negative
Fiber Analysis Softwood bleached sulfite 83%
Hardwood bleached sulfite 14%
Rag 2%
Bast 1%
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, Fe, Zn, Sr, Ag, Ba
- Verso: Al, Si, 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

“Exposición de fotografías de Horacio Coppola y Grete Stern.” La Prensa, October 6, 1935 (as Estudio).

Headquarters of Sur magazine, Buenos Aires. Exhibition of photographs by Grete Stern and Horacio Coppola. October 1935.