Untitled

Front / Recto

• Title Untitled (Daisy Spies as the Spiral in Oskar Schlemmer's "Triadic Ballet") (Daisy Spies als die Spirale in Oskar Schlemmers "Das Triadische Ballett")
• Negative Date 1926
• Print Date 1926
• Medium Gelatin silver print
• Dimensions Image 8 3/4 x 5 7/8" (22.2 x 15 cm)
  
• Place Taken Donaueschingen
• Credit Line Thomas Walther Collection. Gift of Thomas Walther
• MoMA Accession Number 1676.2001

Back / Verso

• Mount Type No mount
• Marks and Inscriptions Embossed stamp on sheet recto, bottom right: ATELIER/GRILL/DONAU-/ESCHINGEN [with circular outline]. Inscribed in pencil on sheet verso, top center: WH/SR X R and 54104 [circled]. Inscribed in blue ink on sheet verso, center: Triadisches Ballett/[inscribed in pencil: Oskar] Schlemmer–[inscribed in pencil: Paul] Hindemith/Musikfest Donaueschingen/1926 (?). Inscribed in pencil on sheet verso, center: 25.7.1926/(vgl. von Mauer vol. I. s. 169). Inscribed in blue ink on sheet verso, bottom center: Daisy Spies/4. Inscribed in pencil on sheet verso, bottom right: Berliner/Staatsoper. Stamped in black ink on sheet verso, bottom right: Photogr. Atelier K. Grill/Donaueschingen, Zeppelinstr. 2. Inscribed on sheet verso, bottom center: TW 870507.
• Provenance The artist; to Alma Siedhoff-Buscher (1899–1944), Frankfurt; by inheritance to the estate of Alma Siedhoff-Buscher (Joost and Lore Siedhoff), Frankfurt, 1944 [1]; purchased by Egidio Marzona, Berlin/Bielefeld, 1978–79 [2]; purchased by Prakapas Gallery, Bronxville, N.Y., 1982 [3]; purchased by Thomas Walther, May 1987 [4]; given to The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2001.
  [1] Egidio Marzona, conversation with Thomas Walther, Berlin, April 2014; and William F. Cuozzi (on behalf of Dorothy Augusta Prakapas), letter to Maria Morris Hambourg, October 2013.
  [2] Walther, letter to Eugene Prakapas, February 19, 2001; and Cuozzi, letter to Hambourg.
  [3] Marzona, conversation with Walther.
  [4] Thomas Walther archival no. TW 870507 on sheet verso.

Surface

• Retouch Detail
  

  Detail showing retouching on the negative. The area of detail is 14 x 22 mm. Department of Conservation, MoMA
  

  Detail showing aqueous retouching applied with a brush. The area of detail is 14 x 22 mm. Department of Conservation, MoMA
• Surface Sheen Matte
• Techniques Retouching (additive)
  Contact print
  Retouching in negative
  
• 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

Paper Material

• Format Unknown
• Weight Double weight
• Thickness (mm) 0.30
• UV Fluorescence Recto negative
  Verso negative
• Fiber Analysis Softwood bleached sulfite 55%
  Grass 31%
  Rag 13%
  Bast 2%
  
• 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: Al, S, Cl, Zn, Sr, Ag, Ba, Pb
  • Verso: 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: Al, Si, S, Cl, 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

Related Images

Oskar Schlemmer. Figurines in Space: Study for the Triadic Ballet. c. 1924. Gouache, ink, and cut-and-pasted gelatin silver prints on black paper, 22 5/8 x 14 5/8" (57.5 x 37.1 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of Lily Auchincloss

Oskar Schlemmer. Spiral from Notes and Sketches for the Triadic Ballet. c. 1938. Typewriting, pencil, and colored pencil on paper, 11 1/2 x 8 1/4" (29.2 x 21 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of Sarah Goodwin Austin

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  • Karl Grill