Front / Recto

  • Title Motorcycle in the Race (Motorrad im Rennen)
  • Negative Date 1925
  • Print Date 1925–28
  • Medium Gelatin silver print
  • Dimensions Image 8 11/16 × 6 7/8" (22 × 17.4 cm)
    Mount 18 7/8 × 12 13/16" (48 × 32.5 cm)
  • Place Taken Berlin
  • Credit Line Thomas Walther Collection. Abbott-Levy Collection funds, by exchange
  • MoMA Accession Number 1798.2001
  • Copyright © Sigrid Nerlinger
  • Description

    The presentation of photographs in the 1920s took many forms. Prints could be pinned directly to the wall, placed in frames, or mounted to sheets of card that in turn were pinned, hung from nails, or secured in tracks that ran along the wall. The passe-partout system of presenting works of art dates back to the pre-photographic era, when precious specimens or fragments of Old Master drawings were carefully framed between a stiff backing and matching window mats, all held together by strips of paper or cloth pasted over their edges. This Photogram by Oskar Nerlinger was shown in the exhibition Film und Foto, organized by the Deutscher Werkbund in Stuttgart in 1929. It survives in its exhibition passe-partout, complete with exhibition label and hanging device. The work, so well protected, is in near-pristine condition.

    —Lee Ann Daffner

Back / Verso

  • Mount Type Mount (original)
  • Marks and Inscriptions Inscribed in pencil on mount recto, bottom left: 2698. White label affixed to mount recto, bottom left, with text printed in black ink: 555. Label affixed to mount recto, bottom right, with text printed in black ink: Oscar Nerlinger, Berlin-Charlottenburg,/Dernburgstr. 25:/Motorrad im Rennen. Stamped in black ink on mount verso, top center: [illegible]. Inscribed in pencil on mount verso, center: "Motorrad im Rennen"/Fotogramm 1925/24 x 18. Inscribed in pencil on mount verso, bottom left: 2698. Inscribed in pencil on mount verso, bottom left: 1x Sabine. Stamped in red ink on mount verso, bottom left: [Japanese characters reading "Yokohama, department"].
  • Provenance The artist, Berlin; by inheritance to the artist's estate, Berlin, 1969 [1]; to Galerie Berinson, Berlin [2]; purchased by Thomas Walther; purchased by The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2001.
    [1] MacGill/Walther 2000, p. 26.
    [2] Ibid.

Surface

  • Surface Sheen Semireflective
  • Techniques Mount
    Retouching (additive)
    Photogram
  • 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 Unknown
  • 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, Cl, Ca, Zn, Sr, Ag, Ba
    • Mount: 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: P, S, Cl, Ag, Ca, Ba
    Areas examined: Recto (Dmax: black; Dmin: green), Verso or Mount (blue), Background (red)
    Elements identified: Zn, Sr, Ag

In Context

Historical Exhibitions

  • Städtische Ausstellungshallen, Stuttgart. Internationale Ausstellung des Deutschen Werkbunds Film und Foto (Fifo) (no. 546, as Motorrad im Rennen). Organized by Deutscher Werkbund. May 18–July 7, 1929 (traveling exhibition) (this print, Asahi Shimbun, Tokyo. April 13–22, 1931; this print, Asahi Shimbun, Osaka. July 1–7, 1931).

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