Front / Recto
- Title A Study in Radiation
- Negative Date 1924
- Print Date 1924–29
- Medium Gelatin silver print
- Dimensions Image 7 11/16 × 9 3/4" (19.6 × 24.8 cm)Mount 14 × 17 3/16" (35.5 × 43.7 cm)
- Place Taken Carmel-by-the-Sea
- Credit Line Thomas Walther Collection. Gift of Mrs. B. S. Sexton and Mina Turner, by exchange
- MoMA Accession Number 1639.2001
Back / Verso
- Mount Type Mount (original)
- Marks and Inscriptions Signed in pencil on small mount recto, bottom right: Anne Brigman/-24 [with a drawing of a seagull and three horizontal lines]. Inscribed in pencil on large mount verso, top center: -A Study in Radiation-. White label affixed to large mount verso, top center, with text printed in black ink: Anne Brigman/683 Brockhurst/Oakland/California [with scalloped black and white square outline]. Inscribed in pencil on large mount verso, top center: "To the gull's way and the whale's way/Where the winds like a whetted knife;"-/John Maesfield. Inscribed in pencil on large mount verso, bottom right: TW 891001.
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Provenance
The artist; by inheritance to the artist's nephew, Willard Nott, 1950 [1]; to Susan Ehrens, San Francisco [2]; purchased by Thomas Walther, October 1989 [3]; purchased by The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2001.
[1] Susan Ehrens, telephone conversation with Simon Bieling, June 30, 2005.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Thomas Walther archival no. TW 891001 on mount verso.
Surface
- Surface Sheen Matte
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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 Imperial
- UV Fluorescence Recto negative Verso negative
- Fiber Analysis No fiber data available
- Material Techniques Developing-out paper
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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: S, Ca, Fe, Zn, Sr, Ag, Ba, Pb
- Mount: Al, Si, S, 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, S, 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 People
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Artist
