Front / Recto

  • Title Untitled
  • Negative Date 1931
  • Print Date 1932–33
  • Medium Gelatin silver print
  • Dimensions Image 6 3/4 × 9 5/16" (17.2 × 23.6 cm)
    Mount 9 7/8 × 11 1/16" (25.1 × 28.1 cm)
  • Place Taken Slawno
  • Credit Line Thomas Walther Collection. Horace W. Goldsmith Fund through Robert B. Menschel
  • MoMA Accession Number 1688.2001
  • Copyright © 2015 Raoul Hausmann / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris

Back / Verso

  • Mount Type Mount (original)
  • Marks and Inscriptions Stamped in black ink on mount verso, bottom right: R. HAUSMANN/APP. OPT./BLENDE FILT./sec./pan./fach vergr. Nr. [oriented upside down with respect to image]. Inscribed in pencil on mount verso, bottom left: TW 900605.
  • Provenance The artist, Berlin; given to the artist’s first wife, Elfriede Hausmann-Schaeffer, Berlin, 1933 [1]; to the artist’s daughter, Vera Hausmann, Berlin [2]; to Cornelia Frenkel, Freiburg, Germany [3]; purchased by Thomas Walther, June 1990 [4]; purchased by The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2001.
    [1] MacGill/Walther 2001(3), p. 8. The artist went into exile in Ibiza in 1933.
    [2] Ibid.
    [3] Ibid.

Back Printing

Detail showing Agfa-Brovira manufacturer logo printed in ink on the verso of the photograph. In image processing, contrast was adjusted to enhance the readability of the logo. The area of detail is 1 x 3 cm. Department of Conservation, MoMA

Surface

  • Surface Sheen Glossy
  • Techniques Mount
    Retouching (additive)
    Enlargement
    Ferrotyping
  • 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
  • UV Fluorescence Recto negative
    Verso no data
  • Fiber Analysis Softwood bleached sulfite 79%
    Hardwood bleached sulfite 6%
    Rag 13%
    Bast 2%
  • Material Techniques Developing-out paper
    Back printing
  • 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, Cl, Ca, Zn, Sr, Ag, Ba, Pb
    • Mount: Al, Si, P, S, K, Ca, Fe, 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, Cl, K, Ca, Ag, Ba
    Areas examined: Recto (Dmax: black; Dmin: green), Verso or Mount (blue), Background (red)
    Elements identified: Fe, Zn, Sr, Ag

In Context

Historical Publications

  • Hausmann, Raoul. “Formdialektik der Fotografie.” a bis z 3, no. 24 (May 1932): 95 (as part of a spread entitled "Vier Fotos").

Historical Exhibitions

  • Ehemaliges Kunstgewerbemuseum, Berlin. Fotomontage (probably as part of a four-picture spread). Organized by the Staatliche Kunstbibliothek. April 24–May 31, 1931.

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