Front / Recto

  • Title Untitled
  • Negative Date 1926–28
  • Print Date 1926–39
  • Medium Gelatin silver print
  • Dimensions Image 4 7/16 × 3 5/16" (11.3 × 8.4 cm)
    Sheet 4 3/4 × 3 1/2" (12 × 8.9 cm)
  • Place Taken Dessau
  • Credit Line Thomas Walther Collection. Abbott-Levy Collection funds, by exchange
  • MoMA Accession Number 1614.2001
  • Copyright © 2015 Charlotte Beese

Back / Verso

  • Mount Type No mount
  • Marks and Inscriptions Signed in blue ink on sheet verso, top center: lotte beese.
  • Provenance The artist; to Alma Siedhoff-Buscher (1899–1944), Frankfurt; by inheritance to the estate of Alma Siedhoff-Buscher (Joost and Lore Siedhoff), Frankfurt, 1944 [1]; to Egidio Marzona, Berlin/Bielefeld, 1978–79 [2]; purchased by Ex Libris (Arthur Cohen and Elaine Lustig Cohen), New York, c. 1980 [3]; purchased by Jill Quasha, New York, 1981 [4]; to Edwynn Houk Gallery, Chicago, 1989 [5]; purchased by Thomas Walther, October 24, 1990 [6]; purchased by The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2001.
    [1] Egidio Marzona, conversation with Simon Bieling, Berlin, August 2005; and Marzona, conversation with Thomas Walther, Berlin, April 2014.
    [2] Ibid.; and Elaine Lustig Cohen, e-mail to Bieling, June 25, 2005. The image was published in Egidio Marzona, Bauhaus Photography (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1987), pl. 7 (as L. Beyer [-Volger] in the studio, 1927/28) and attributed to Margit Kallin.
    [3] Jill Quasha, telphone conversation with Bieling, June 8, 2005. Arthur Cohen and Elaine Lustig Cohen mounted an exhibition of Foto-Auge photographs at Ex Libris, in New York, c. 1980.
    [4] MacGill/Walther 2001(3), p. 1; and Quasha, telphone conversation with Maria Morris Hambourg, September 16, 2013.
    [5] MacGill/Walther 2001(3), p. 1
    [6] Edwynn Houk Gallery invoice no. 4356, October 24, 1990

Surface

  • Surface Sheen Semireflective
  • Techniques Retouching (additive)
    Contact print
  • 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) 0.18
  • UV Fluorescence Recto negative
    Verso negative
  • Fiber Analysis Softwood bleached sulfite 78%
    Rag 15%
    Bast 7%
  • 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, Pb
    • Verso: Al, Si, S, K, Ca, Fe, Zn, Sr, Ag, Ba, 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, 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

Related Images

Lotte Stam-Beese. Portrait of Lis Beyer-Volger. c. 1927. Gelatin silver print. Image: 4 7/16 x 3 7/16" (11.2 x 8.8 cm); sheet: 14 x 11" (35.6 x 27.9 cm). The Art Institute of Chicago. Restricted gift of Lucia Woods Lindley and Daniel A. Lindley, Jr.

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