Front / Recto

  • Title Chez Mondrian
  • Negative Date 1926
  • Print Date 1926–27
  • Medium Gelatin silver print
  • Dimensions Image 4 1/4 × 3 1/16" (10.8 × 7.8 cm)
  • Place Taken Paris
  • Credit Line Thomas Walther Collection. Grace M. Mayer Fund and gift of the photographer, by exchange
  • MoMA Accession Number 1717.2001
  • Copyright © Estate of André Kertész

Back / Verso

  • Mount Type No mount
  • Marks and Inscriptions Signed in pencil on sheet verso, top left: 1926/A Kertész Apr 23–1980. Inscribed in pencil on sheet verso, right: Kertesz.
  • Provenance The artist, Paris; to István (Étienne) Beöthy (1897–1961), Paris, c. 1927 [1]; by inheritance to Beöthy's wife, Anna Beöthy, Paris, 1961 [2]; to Galerie Wilde (Ann and Jürgen Wilde), Cologne, 1980 [3]; purchased by Thomas Walther, 1980 [4]; purchased by The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2001.
    [1] Jürgen Wilde, letter to Simon Bieling, May 12, 2005.
    [2] Ibid.; and MacGill/Walther 2000, p. 16.
    [3] MacGill/Walther 2000, p. 16; and Wilde, letter to Bieling.
    [4] MacGill/Walther 2000, p. 16; Wilde, letter to Bieling; and Wilde, letter to Audrey Sands, October 1, 2013.

Back Printing

Detail showing Guilleminot manufacturer logo (horse’s head in horseshoe/star) with postal type 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 2 x 4.5 cm. Department of Conservation, MoMA

Surface

  • Retouch Detail
    Detail showing aqueous retouching applied with a brush. The area of detail is 10.5 x 16 mm Department of Conservation, MoMA
  • Surface Sheen Semireflective
  • Techniques Retouching (additive)
    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 Metric
  • Weight Double weight
  • Thickness (mm) 0.29
  • UV Fluorescence Recto negative
    Verso negative
  • Fiber Analysis Softwood bleached sulfite 100%
  • Material Techniques Developing-out paper
    Back printing
    Photographic postcard
  • 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, Si, P, S, Ca, Zn, Sr, Ag, Ba, Pb
    • Verso: Al, S, Ca, Fe, Zn, Sr, 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, Ca, Ag, Ba
    Areas examined: Recto (Dmax: black; Dmin: green), Verso or Mount (blue), Background (red)
    Elements identified: Zn, Sr, Ag, Pb

In Context

Historical Publications

  • Morgan, Willard D., ed. The Complete Photographer, vol. 5, insert between pp. 1,584 and 1,585. New York: National Educational Alliance, 1943.

Historical Exhibitions

  • Galerie Au Sacre du Printemps, Paris. Photo-Kertész Exposition. March 12–22, 1927.

    Galerie L'Epoque, Brussels (no. 57). 1928.

    Théâtre de la Comédie des Champs-Élysées, Paris. Salon de L'Escalier, Salon Indépendant de la Photographie (no. 61). 1928.

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