Front / Recto

  • Title Steamship Pipes, Paris
  • Negative Date Winter 1931
  • Print Date 1931–65
  • Medium Gelatin silver print
  • Dimensions Image 3 13/16 × 2 11/16" (9.7 × 6.8 cm)
  • Place Taken Paris
  • Credit Line Thomas Walther Collection. Gift of Andreas Feininger, by exchange
  • MoMA Accession Number 1661.2001
  • Copyright © Estate of Marjorie Content

Back / Verso

  • Mount Type No mount
  • Marks and Inscriptions Inscribed in pencil on sheet verso, center: Paris. Inscribed in pencil on sheet verso, bottom right, in Susan L. Sandberg's hand: 226.
  • Provenance The artist; by inheritance to the artist's daughter, Susan L. Sandberg [1]; to Jill Quasha, New York, 1995 [2]; to Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York, 1995–97 [3]; purchased by Thomas Walther, possibly 1996 [4]; purchased by The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2001.
    [1] Jill Quasha, conversation with Maria Morris Hambourg, New York, September 16, 2013; and Susan L. Sandberg's inventory no. 226 on sheet verso.
    [2] MacGill/Walther 2001(3), p. 6; Howard Greenberg, conversation with Simon Bieling, New York, 2005; and Quasha, telephone conversation with Bieling, June 8, 2005, and e-mail to Audrey Sands, October 17, 2013. Quasha was the agent of Content's estate beginning in 1991; her records indicate, however, that Howard Greenberg purchased the print in 1997.
    [3] MacGill/Walther 2001(3), p. 6.
    [4] Ibid.

Surface

  • Surface Sheen Matte
  • 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) 0.30
  • UV Fluorescence Recto negative
    Verso negative
  • Fiber Analysis Softwood bleached sulfite 95%
    Hardwood bleached sulfite 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: S, K, Ca, Zn, Rb, Sr, Ag, Ba
    • Verso: Al, Si, S, K, Ca, Cr, Fe, Zn, Rb, 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, S, K, Ca, Cr, Ag, Ba
    Areas examined: Recto (Dmax: black; Dmin: green), Verso or Mount (blue), Background (red)
    Elements identified: Fe, Zn, Rb, Sr, Ag

In Context

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