Front / Recto

  • Title Puddle Jumper (Pfützenspringerin)
  • Negative Date 1925
  • Print Date 1925–c. 1930
  • Medium Gelatin silver print
  • Dimensions Image 7 1/8 × 5 1/8" (18.1 × 13 cm)
  • Place Taken Berlin
  • Credit Line Thomas Walther Collection. Abbott-Levy Collection funds, by exchange
  • MoMA Accession Number 1855.2001

Back / Verso

  • Mount Type No mount
  • Marks and Inscriptions

    Inscribed in pencil on sheet verso, top center: Aus dem Besitz der Springerin/Eva Langer [1]. Stamped in blue ink on sheet verso, center: SEIDENSTÜCKER.

    [1] "From the collection of the jumper Eva Langer."
  • Provenance The artist; to Eva (Langer) Heimann (1913–2003), Berlin, c. 1930 [1]; to Galerie Wilde (Ann and Jürgen Wilde), Cologne, 1984 [2]; purchased by Thomas Walther, 1991 [3]; purchased by The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2001.
    [1] MacGill/Walther 2001(3), p. 20; Jürgen Wilde, letter to Simon Bieling, May 12, 2005; and Wilde, letter to Audrey Sands, October 1, 2013.
    [2] MacGill/Walther 2001(3), p. 20.
    [3] Ibid.

Surface

  • Surface Sheen Glossy
  • Techniques Retouching (additive)
    Ferrotyping
    Retouching (reductive)
  • 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 82%
    Hardwood bleached sulfite 2%
    Rag 12%
    Bast 4%
  • 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
    • Verso: Al, Si, S, K, Ca, 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, P, S, K, Ca, Ag, Ba
    Areas examined: Recto (Dmax: black; Dmin: green), Verso or Mount (blue), Background (red)
    Elements identified: Fe, Zn, Sr, Ag

In Context

Related Images

Friedrich Seidenstücker. Puddle Leapers, Berlin. 1925. Gelatin silver print, 8 1/4 x 6" (21.1 x 15.3 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Purchase.

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