Front / Recto

  • Title James Joyce
  • Negative Date 1926
  • Print Date 1935–55
  • Medium Gelatin silver print
  • Dimensions Image 4 3/8 × 3 13/16" (11.1 × 9.7 cm)
    Sheet 4 7/16 × 4 1/8" (11.2 × 10.5 cm)
  • Place Taken Paris
  • Credit Line Thomas Walther Collection. Abbott-Levy Collection funds, by exchange
  • MoMA Accession Number 1598.2001
  • Copyright © 2015 Berenice Abbott/Commerce Graphics

Back / Verso

  • Mount Type No mount
  • Marks and Inscriptions Stamped in black ink on sheet verso, top center: PHOTOGRAPH BY BERENICE ABBOTT/ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Signed in pencil on sheet verso, center: Berenice Abbott. Inscribed in pencil on sheet verso, bottom-left corner: James Joyce [erased]. Inscribed in pencil on sheet verso, bottom center: PF 11844 [erased]. Inscribed in pencil on sheet verso, bottom right: TW 881202 [erased].
  • Provenance The artist, New York [1]; to a private collection [2]; to Delano Greenidge, New York [3]; purchased by Thomas Walther, 1988–89 [4]; purchased by The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2001.
    [1] Delano Greenidge, telephone conversation with Simon Bieling, April 4, 2005.
    [2] Ibid.
    [3] Greenidge, telephone conversation with Bieling, June 22, 2005.
    [4] Thomas Walther archival no. TW 881202 in pencil and erased on sheet verso and Walther archival no. TW 891202 on Walther inventory sheet.

Surface

  • Surface Sheen Semireflective
  • Techniques Contact print
  • 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 Unknown
  • Weight Double weight
  • Thickness (mm) 0.32
  • UV Fluorescence Recto negative
    Verso negative
  • Fiber Analysis Softwood bleached sulfite alpha 100%
    Rag
  • 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, P, S, Ca, Sr, Ag, Ba
    • Verso: Al, S, Ca, 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, P, S, Ca, Ag, Ba
    Areas examined: Recto (Dmax: black; Dmin: green), Verso or Mount (blue), Background (red)
    Elements identified: Sr, Ag

In Context

Related Images

Berenice Abbott. James Joyce. 1928. Gelatin silver print, 13 7/16 x 10 3/8" (34.2 x 26.4 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Stephen R. Currier Memorial Fund. © 2014 Berenice Abbott/Commerce Graphics
Spread from Variétés 1, no. 5 (1928). Bottom right: Berenice Abbott. L’ecrivain James Joyce (The writer James Joyce). © 2014 Berenice Abbott/Commerce Graphics

Historical Publications

  • Variétés 1, no. 5 (1928): insert between pp. 162 and 163 (as L’écrivain James Joyce).

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