Untitled

Front / Recto

Title Untitled
Negative Date 1924
Print Date 1924
Medium Gelatin silver print with paper border
Dimensions Image 9 1/16 × 9 3/4" (23 × 24.8 cm)
Place Taken Prague
Credit Line Thomas Walther Collection. Horace W. Goldsmith Fund through Robert B. Menschel
MoMA Accession Number 1844.2001
Copyright © 2015 Sylva Vitove-Rösslerova

Mount Type No mount
Marks and Inscriptions Recto borders traced with red china pencil. Inscribed in pencil on sheet verso, bottom-left edge: 252. Inscribed in pencil on sheet verso, bottom center: P 9607019.
Provenance The artist, Prague; to Galerie Rudolf Kicken (Wilhelm Schürmann), Cologne, 1982 [1]; purchased by Thomas Walther, February 1997 [2]; purchased by The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2001.
[1] MacGill/Walther 2001(3), p. 19; and Rudolf Kicken, conversation with Simon Bieling, Kicken Berlin, February 17, 2004. Kicken told Bieling that his former partner Wilhelm Schürmann was responsible for all acquisitions in the Czech Republic. The print was exhibited in Seen & Unseen, Robert Miller Gallery, New York, January 8–February 8, 1997.
[2] MacGill/Walther 2001(3), p. 19; and Galerie Rudolf Kicken invoice, February 27, 1997.

Surface Sheen Semireflective
Techniques Retouching (additive)
Coating
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

Format Unknown
UV Fluorescence Recto negative
Verso negative
Fiber Analysis Softwood bleached sulfite 64%
Hardwood bleached sulfite 21%
Rag 8%
Grass 5%
Bast 3%
Material Techniques Developing-out paper
Baryta-less 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: S, Ca, Cr, Fe, Zn, Sr, Ag, Ba
- Verso: Al, Si, S, Ca, Cr, 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, S, Ca, Cr, Ag, Ba

Areas examined: Recto (Dmax: black; Dmin: green), Verso or Mount (blue), Background (red)
Elements identified: Fe, Zn, Sr, Ag