Front / Recto

  • Title The Speaker (Der Sprecher)
  • Negative Date 1928–29
  • Print Date 1928–55
  • Medium Gelatin silver print
  • Dimensions Image 6 1/4 × 8 9/16" (15.9 × 21.8 cm)
    Sheet 6 7/16 × 8 3/4" (16.4 × 22.3 cm)
  • Place Taken Frankfurt
  • Credit Line Thomas Walther Collection. Gift of Thomas Walther
  • MoMA Accession Number 1685.2001

Back / Verso

  • Mount Type No mount - evidence previous mount
  • Marks and Inscriptions Inscribed in black ink on sheet verso, top left: P. E. Hahn. Inscribed in pencil on sheet verso, top center: ↑. Inscribed in pencil on sheet verso, center: Der Sprecher. Inscribed in pencil on sheet verso, center: fotoauge.
  • Provenance The artist, Frankfurt; by inheritance to the artist’s daughter, Frankfurt [1]; purchased by Egidio Marzona, Berlin/Bielefeld, c. 1978–79 [2]; purchased by Ex Libris (Arthur Cohen and Elaine Lustig Cohen), New York, c. 1980 [3]; purchased by Prakapas Gallery, Bronxville, N.Y., c. March 17, 1981 [4]; purchased by Thomas Walther, December 21, 1988 [5]; given to The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2001.
    [1] Egidio Marzona, conversation with Thomas Walther, Berlin, April 2014.
    [2] Ibid.
    [3] Ibid. Arthur Cohen and Elaine Lustig Cohen mounted an exhibition of Foto-Auge photographs at Ex Libris, in New York, c. 1980.
    [4] William F. Cuozzi (on behalf of Dorothy Augusta Prakapas), letter to Maria Morris Hambourg, October 2013; and Prakapas Gallery inventory no. 81.3.17.4, on file with the Prakapas family. The inventory number indicates that the print was purchased by Eugene Prakapas some time prior to and around March 17, 1981.
    [5] Cuozzi, letter to Hambourg; Prakapas Gallery records for date of Walther's purchase; and Prakapas invoice, December 21, 1988.

Surface

  • Surface Sheen Semireflective
  • Techniques Retouching (additive)
  • 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 Metric
  • UV Fluorescence Recto negative
    Verso negative
  • 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: Al, Si, P, S, Ca, Cr, Zn, Sr, Ag, Ba, Pb
    • Verso: Al, Si, S, K, Ca, Sr, Ag, 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, P, S, K, Ca, Cr, Ag, Ba
    Areas examined: Recto (Dmax: black; Dmin: green), Verso or Mount (blue), Background (red)
    Elements identified: Zn, Sr, Ag, Pb

In Context

Related Images

Spread from Franz Roh and Jan Tschichold. Foto-Auge: 76 Fotos der Zeit (Photo-Eye: 76 photos of the time). Stuttgart: F. Wedekind, 1929. The Museum of Modern Art Library, New York. Left: photographer unknown. Crowd (Volksmenge). Right: Paul Edmund Hahn. The Speaker (Der Sprecher)

Historical Publications

  • Roh, Franz, and Jan Tschichold. Foto-Auge: 76 Fotos der Zeit, pl. 27 (as Der Sprecher—L’orateur—The Speaker). Stuttgart: Akademischer Verlag Dr. Fritz Wedekind & Co., 1929.

    Schnebel, Carl. “Das Gesicht als Landschaft.” Uhu 5, no. 5 (1929): 45 (as Der vielgeküßte Mund).

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