Front / Recto

  • Title Untitled
  • Negative Date February 1931
  • Print Date 1931–33
  • Medium Gelatin silver print
  • Dimensions Image 6 9/16 × 9 3/16" (16.6 × 23.4 cm)
  • Place Taken Berlin
  • Credit Line Thomas Walther Collection. Horace W. Goldsmith Fund through Robert B. Menschel
  • MoMA Accession Number 1690.2001
  • Copyright © 2015 Raoul Hausmann / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris

Back / Verso

  • Mount Type No mount
  • Marks and Inscriptions Inscribed in pencil on sheet verso, bottom left: collection Marthe Prévot.
  • Provenance The artist, Berlin; possibly by inheritance to the artist’s second wife, Marthe Prévot, 1971 [1], or given to the artist’s first wife, Elfriede Hausmann-Schaeffer, Berlin, 1933, and then transferred to the artist’s daughter, Vera Hausmann, Berlin [2]; to Cornelia Frenkel, Freiburg, Germany [3]; purchased by Thomas Walther [4]; purchased by The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2001.
    [1] Inscription on sheet verso. Marthe Prévot, whom Hausmann met in 1939, was the heir of his estate.
    [2] MacGill/Walther 2001(3), p. 8. The artist went into exile in Ibiza in 1933.
    [3] Ibid.
    [4] 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 Semireflective
  • Techniques Enlargement
  • 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 Metric
  • Weight Double weight
  • Thickness (mm) 0.28
  • UV Fluorescence Recto negative
    Verso negative
  • Fiber Analysis Softwood bleached sulfite 98%
    Softwood bleached kraft/soda 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
    • Verso: 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

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