Front / Recto

  • Title Luxury Rentals
  • Negative Date 1932
  • Print Date 1932–55
  • Medium Gelatin silver print
  • Dimensions Image 11 5/16 x 15" (28.7 x 38.1 cm)
    Mount 11 5/16 x 15" (28.7 x 38.1 cm)
  • Place Taken Paris
  • Credit Line Thomas Walther Collection. Abbott-Levy Collection funds, by exchange
  • MoMA Accession Number 1757.2001

Back / Verso

  • Mount Type Mount (original)
  • Marks and Inscriptions

    Signed in blue ink on mount verso, bottom right: Kompozice pujcili/(negativ)/Luxus k pronáj [illegible]/Foto: Jiří Lehovec Paris 1932. Inscribed in pencil on mount verso, bottom center: 6 [circled]. Inscribed in pencil on mount verso, bottom-left corner: RK 1486-H [or RK 1486-TH]. Inscribed in pencil on mount verso, bottom center: P 8809052.

    [1] "The composition was borrowed/(negative)"

  • Provenance The artist. An intermediary source, Prague [1]; to Galerie Rudolf Kicken, Cologne, 1987–88 [2]; sold through Kunsthaus Lempertz, Cologne (sale 733, lot 190), to Thomas Walther, November 9, 1996 [3]; purchased by The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2001.
    [1] Ina Schmidt-Runke (Kicken Berlin), e-mail to Maria Morris Hambourg, November 13, 2013.
    [2] Kicken archival no. RK 1486-H [or RK 1486-TH] on mount verso; and Schmidt-Runke, e-mail to Hambourg.
    [3] Kunsthaus Lempertz invoice, November 9, 1996.

Surface

  • Surface Sheen Glossy
  • Techniques Mount
    Negative print
    Lamination
  • 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 No fiber data available
  • 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: P, S, Ca, Zn, Sr, Ag, Ba, Pb
    • Mount: Al, Si, S, K, Ca, Ti, Mn, 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, K, Ca, Ti, Mn, Ag, Ba
    Areas examined: Recto (Dmax: black; Dmin: green), Verso or Mount (blue), Background (red)
    Elements identified: Fe, Zn, Sr, Ag, Pb

In Context

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