Front / Recto

  • Title Lotte (Eye) (Lotte [Auge])
  • Negative Date 1928
  • Print Date 1928–29
  • Medium Gelatin silver print
  • Dimensions Image 11 7/8 x 15 3/4" (30.2 x 40 cm)
  • Place Taken Essen
  • Credit Line Thomas Walther Collection. Acquired through the generosity of Peter Norton
  • MoMA Accession Number 1646.2001
  • Copyright © 2015 Max Burchartz / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Germany

Back / Verso

  • Mount Type No mount
  • Marks and Inscriptions Inscribed in pencil on sheet verso, bottom left: > Lottes aüge </Prof. M. Bürchartz essen. Inscribed in pencil on sheet verso, bottom right: TW 820201. Inscribed in pencil on sheet verso, bottom right: XX.
  • Provenance The artist, Essen; to Franz Roh (1890–1965), Munich, by 1929 [1]; by inheritance to the estate of Franz Roh (Juliane Roh, 1909–1987), Munich, 1965 [2]; to Galerie Wilde (Ann and Jürgen Wilde), Cologne, 1968 [3]; purchased by Thomas Walther, 1982 [4]; purchased by The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2001.
    [1] Jürgen Wilde, letter to Simon Bieling May 12, 2005. The print was published in Franz Roh and Jan Tschichold, Foto-Auge: 76 Fotos der Zeit (Stuttgart: Akademischer Verlag Dr. Fritz Wedekind & Co., 1929), pl. 31 (as Lotte [Auge]–Charlotte [Oeil]– Lotte [Eye]).
    [2] Wilde, letter to Bieling.
    [3] Ibid.
    [4] Ibid.

Surface

  • Retouch Detail
    Detail showing aqueous retouching applied with a brush, extending the eyelashes. The area of detail is 14 x 22 mm. Department of Conservation, MoMA
    Detail showing aqueous retouching applied with a brush, extending the eyelashes. The area of detail is 14 x 22 mm. Department of Conservation, MoMA
  • Surface Sheen Semireflective
  • Techniques Retouching (additive)
    Enlargement
    Retouching in negative
    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 Metric
  • Weight Single weight
  • Thickness (mm) 0.17
  • UV Fluorescence Recto negative
    Verso negative
  • Fiber Analysis Softwood bleached sulfite 57%
    Hardwood bleached sulfite 5%
    Rag 33%
    Bast 5%
  • 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, Ca, Zn, Sr, Ag, Ba
    • Verso: Al, Si, P, S, Ca, Zn, Sr, Ba

    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, Ca, Ag, Ba
    Areas examined: Recto (Dmax: black; Dmin: green), Verso or Mount (blue), Background (red)
    Elements identified: Zn, Sr, Ag

In Context

Related Images

Das Lichtbild Essen (The photograph Essen) exhibition, 1931. Installation view. Exhibition design by Max Burchartz. Courtesy Archiv John Heartfield, Akademie der Künste Berlin
Spread from Franz Roh and Jan Tschichold. Foto-Auge: 76 Fotos der Zeit (Photo-eye: 76 photos of the time). Stuttgart: F. Wedekind, 1929. Left: Th. Mettler. Lightening. Right: Max Burchartz. Lotte (Eye) (Lotte [Auge]). © 2014 Max Burchartz/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/VG Bild-Kunst, Germany
Spread from Gustaf Stotz, et al. Internationale Ausstellung des Deutschen Werkbunds Film und Foto (International Exhibition of the Deutscher Werkbund Film and Photo). Stuttgart: Deutscher Werkbund, 1929. Left: Max Burchartz. Lotte (Eye) (Lotte [Auge]) Right: Aenne Biermann. Bag with Nuts (Tüte mit Nüssen). © 2014 Max Burchartz/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/VG Bild-Kunst, Germany
Max Burchartz. Lotte’s Eye. 1928. Gelatin silver print, 11 15/16 × 15 11/16" (30.3 × 39.9 cm). Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Gift of Manfred Heiting. The Manfred Heiting Collection. © 2014 Max Burchartz/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/VG Bild-Kunst, Germany

Historical Publications

  • Windisch, Hans. “Wie der modern Photograph sieht.” Scherl’s Magazin 5, no. 7 (July 1929): 744 (as Lotte, Auge).

    Roh, Franz, and Jan Tschichold. Foto-Auge: 76 Fotos der Zeit, pl. 31 (as Lotte [Auge]—Charlotte [Oeil]—Lotte [Eye]). Stuttgart: Akademischer Verlag Dr. Fritz Wedekind & Co., 1929.

    Stotz, Gustaf, et al. Internationale Ausstellung des Deutschen Werkbunds Film und Foto, p. 44 (as Lotte Auge). Stuttgart: Deutscher Werkbund, 1929.

    Die Wochenschau 20 (1929): 24.

    “Zur Ausstellung: Fotografie der Gegenwart.” Hand und Maschine, February 1930, p. 217 (as Lotte [Auge]).

    Photographie, p. 31. Paris: Arts et Métiers Graphiques, 1930.

    Peterhans, Walter. Was, wann, wie vergrössern, Fotorat, no. 3, cover. Halle, Germany: Knapp, 1936.

Historical Exhibitions

  • Museum Folkwang, Essen. Internationale Ausstellung Fotografie der Gegenwart. Organized by Kurt-Wilhelm Kästner. January 20–February 17, 1929. (traveling exhibition)

    Städtische Ausstellungshallen, Stuttgart. Internationale Ausstellung des Deutschen Werkbunds Film und Foto (Fifo) (no. 149, as Lotte [Auge]). Organized by Deutscher Werkbund. May 18-July 7, 1929. (traveling exhibition)

    Ausstellunghallen, Essen. Internationale Ausstellung: das Lichtbild (as mural-sized print). Organized by Kurt-Wilhelm Kästner and Max Burchartz. July 11 – August 23, 1931.

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