Front / Recto

  • Title View of Berlin's Department Store Karstadt (Blick auf das Berliner Kaufhaus Karstadt)
  • Negative Date 1929
  • Print Date 1929–35
  • Medium Gelatin silver print
  • Dimensions Image 9 5/16 x 6 1/8" (23.7 x 15.5 cm)
  • Place Taken Berlin
  • Credit Line Thomas Walther Collection. Gift of Shirley C. Burden, by exchange
  • MoMA Accession Number 1889.2001
  • Copyright © 2015 Umbo / Gallery Kicken Berlin / Phyllis Umbehr / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn

Back / Verso

  • Mount Type No mount
  • Marks and Inscriptions Inscribed in pencil on sheet verso, top center: P 8011165. Stamped in black ink on sheet verso, top right: Copyright by/DEUTSCHER PHOTO-DIENST/Berlin W 8, Jägerstr. 11/Tel.: A 4 Zentrum 1806-1807/als Photograph zu nennen:/DEPHOT [crossed out]/UMBO. Inscribed in pencil on sheet verso, bottom left: RK.
  • Provenance The artist, Berlin; to Paul Citroen (1896–1983), Berlin, c. 1929 [1]; to Egidio Marzona, Berlin/Bielefeld, 1975 [2]; purchased by Galerie Rudolf Kicken, Cologne, November 1980 [3]; purchased by Thomas Walther, 1996 [4]; purchased by The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2001.
    [1] Egidio Marzona, conversation with Thomas Walther, Berlin, April 2014.
    [2] Ibid.
    [3] Ibid.; Kicken archival no. P 8011165 on sheet verso; and Rudolf Kicken, conversation with Bieling, Kicken Berlin, February 17, 2004.
    [4] MacGill/Walther 2001(3), p. 23; and Galerie Rudolf Kicken delivery promise, November 20, 1996.

Surface

  • Surface Sheen Glossy
  • Techniques Enlargement
    Ferrotyping
  • 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
  • Weight Single weight
  • Thickness (mm) 0.17
  • UV Fluorescence Recto negative
    Verso negative
  • Fiber Analysis Softwood bleached soda 64%
    Rag 24%
    Bast 12%
  • 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
    • Verso: Al, Si, 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, Si, 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

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