Potter

Front / Recto

Title Potter
Negative Date 1932
Print Date 1932–55
Medium Gelatin silver print
Dimensions Image 9 11/16 × 7 3/4" (24.6 × 19.7 cm)
Sheet 9 15/16 × 8 1/16" (25.3 × 20.5 cm)
Mount 9 15/16 × 8" (25.3 × 20.3 cm)
Place Taken Mexico City
Credit Line Thomas Walther Collection. Gift of Paul Outerbridge, by exchange
MoMA Accession Number 1643.2001
Copyright © 2015 Anton Bruehl Estate

Mount Type No mount - evidence previous mount
Marks and Inscriptions Signed in black ink on mount verso, top left: Anton Bruehl. Stamped in black ink on mount verso, top center: This Artwork or Photo is the Property of/THE BOCA RATON CENTER FOR THE ARTS/801 WEST PALMETTO PARK ROAD/BOCA RATON, FLA. 33432 (305) 392-2500/Please Return. Inscribed in pencil on mount verso, center: 15M [circled]. Inscribed in pencil on mount verso, bottom center: AB-368.
Provenance The artist, Boca Raton; by inheritance to the artist's estate (the artist's nephew, Anton Martin Bruehl), San Francisco, 1982 [1]; to Photofind Gallery/Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York, before 1991 [2]; purchased by Thomas Walther,October 17, 1997 [3]; purchased by The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2001.
[1] MacGill/Walther 2001(3), p. 4; and Alicia Colen (Howard Greenberg Gallery), e-mail to Maria Morris Hambourg, November 5, 2013.
[2] MacGill/Walther 2000, p. 6; and Colen, e-mail to Hambourg.
[3] Howard Greenberg Gallery invoice no. 97-191a, October 17, 1997.

Surface Sheen Glossy
Techniques Retouching (additive)
Ferrotyping
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 Imperial
UV Fluorescence Recto negative
Verso no data
Fiber Analysis Softwood bleached sulfite 97%
Hardwood bleached sulfite 2%
Rag 2%
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, P, S, Zn, Sr, Ag, Ba, Pb
- Verso or mount: not available
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), Background (red)
Elements identified: Al, P, S, Ag, Ba

Areas examined: Recto (Dmax: black; Dmin: green), Background (red)
Elements identified: Zn, Sr, Ag, Pb

"Camera." Advertising Arts, November 1932, p. 22 (as Potter).

Bruehl, Anton. Photographs of Mexico, pl. 15 (as Hands of the Potter). New York: Delphic Studios, 1933.

Art Center Galleries, New York. First National Exhibition of Photographs for Commerce, Industry, and Science. Organized by the National Alliance of Art and Industry and the Pictorial Photographers of America. 1932.