Front / Recto

  • Title Portrait of Mme. R.
  • Negative Date 1926
  • Print Date 1926–35
  • Medium Gelatin silver print
  • Dimensions Image 8 7/16 x 5 1/16" (21.4 x 12.9 cm)
    Mount 10 x 6 3/4" (25.4 x 17.2 cm)
  • Place Taken Paris
  • Credit Line Thomas Walther Collection. Gift of Thomas Walther
  • MoMA Accession Number 1723.2001
  • Copyright © Estate of André Kertész

Back / Verso

  • Mount Type Mount (original)
  • Marks and Inscriptions Signed in pencil on mount recto, bottom left: A Kertész. Inscribed in pencil on mount recto, bottom right: Paris. Inscribed in pencil on mount verso, center: Thomas Walther Collection.
  • Provenance The artist, New York [1]; purchased by Jane Corkin Gallery, Toronto, 1979 [2]; purchased by Thomas Walther, November 1979 [3]; given to The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2001.
    [1] Thomas Walther, conversation with Simon Bieling, Berlin, February 2, 2006.
    [2] MacGill/Walther 2000, p. 17; and Jane Corkin, telephone conversation with Maria Morris Hambourg, November 2013.
    [3] Corkin, telephone conversation with Hambourg; and Jane Corkin Gallery invoice no. 161, November 8, 1979.

Surface

  • Surface Sheen Matte
  • Techniques Mount
    Retouching (additive)
    Retouching (reductive)
  • PTM
    Detail 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
  • UV Fluorescence Recto negative
    Verso no data
  • 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: P, S, Cl, Ca, Fe, Zn, Sr, Ag, Ba, Pb
    • Mount: Al, Si, S, K, Ca, Fe, Zn, 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, 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

Historical Publications

  • Invitation card, Photo- Kertész Exposition (Paris: Au Sacre du Printemps, 1927), recto (ill., Portrait de Mme. R.).

Historical Exhibitions

  • Galerie Au Sacre du Printemps, Paris. Photo-Kertész Exposition (on recto of invitation card, as Portrait de Mme. R.). March 12–22, 1927.

    Galerie L'Epoque, Brussels (as Mme. R.). 1928.

    Théâtre de la Comédie des Champs-Élysées, Paris. Salon de L'Escalier, Salon Indépendant de la Photographie. 1928.

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