Front / Recto

  • Title Untitled
  • Negative Date 1930
  • Print Date 1930–39
  • Medium Gelatin silver print
  • Dimensions Image 9 7/16 × 7 1/16" (23.9 × 17.9 cm)
  • Place Taken Paris
  • Credit Line Thomas Walther Collection. Gift of David H. McAlpin, by exchange
  • MoMA Accession Number 1747.2001
  • Copyright © Estate Germaine Krull, Museum Folkwang, Essen

Back / Verso

  • Mount Type No mount
  • Marks and Inscriptions Stamped in black ink on sheet verso, center: COPYRIGHT BY/Germaine KRULL/PARIS [with square outline]. Inscribed in pencil on sheet verso, bottom right: TW 810501. Inscribed in pencil on sheet verso, bottom right: KI.
  • Provenance The artist, Paris. Sold through Phillips New York (lot 3), November 13, 1980 [1]; to Allan Frumkin Gallery Photographs Inc. (Carol Ehlers), Chicago [2]; purchased by Thomas Walther, May 9, 1981 [3]; purchased by The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2001.
    [1] Carol Ehlers, e-mail to Simon Bieling, April 19, 2005.
    [2] MacGill/Walther 2000, p. 20.
    [3] Thomas Walther archival no. TW 810501 on sheet verso ; MacGill/Walther 2000(2), p. 18; Ehlers, letter to Audrey Sands, October 18, 2013; and Allan Frumkin Gallery Photographs Inc. invoice, May 9, 1981.

Surface

  • Surface Sheen Semireflective
  • Techniques Retouching (additive)
    Retouching in negative
  • 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) 0.30
  • UV Fluorescence Recto negative
    Verso negative
  • Fiber Analysis Softwood bleached sulfite 99%
    Hardwood bleached sulfite 1%
  • 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):

    • Verso: P, S, Ca, Zn, Sr, Ag, Ba
    • Mount: Al, P, S, Ca, 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, P, S, Ca, Ag, Ba
    Areas examined: Recto (Dmax: black; Dmin: green), Verso or Mount (blue), Background (red)
    Elements identified: Zn, Sr, Ag

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