Front / Recto

  • Title Ficus elastica (Gummibaum)
  • Negative Date 1926
  • Print Date 1926–27
  • Medium Gelatin silver print
  • Dimensions Image 14 3/4 x 11 1/8" (37.5 x 28.2 cm)
    Mount 19 5/16 × 14 11/16" (49 × 37.3 cm)
  • Place Taken Gera
  • Credit Line Thomas Walther Collection. Gift of Thomas Walther
  • MoMA Accession Number 1617.2001

Back / Verso

  • Mount Type Mount (original)
  • Marks and Inscriptions Signed in pencil on mount recto, bottom right: Aenne Biermann/[two illegible letters or numbers]. Stamped in black ink on mount verso, top center: AENNE BIERMANN, GERA/Nr. [inscribed in pencil on number line inside artist's stamp: 2148] [with rectangular outline]. Inscribed in pencil on mount verso, bottom left: Gummibaum 1926. Stamped in black ink on mount verso, bottom center: Galerie Wilde Köln.
  • Provenance The artist, Gera, Germany; to Thilo Schoder (1888–1979), Gera/Norway, c. 1927 [1]; to Galerie Wilde (Ann and Jürgen Wilde), Cologne, 1973 [2]; purchased by Thomas Walther, 1982 [3]; given to The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2001.
    [1] MacGill/Walther 2001(4), p. 1; and Jürgen Wilde, letter to Simon Bieling, May 12, 2005.
    [2] MacGill/Walther 2001(4), p. 1; and Wilde, letter to Bieling.
    [3] MacGill/Walther 2001(4), p. 1; and Wilde, letter to Bieling.

Surface

  • Surface Sheen Matte
  • Techniques Mount
    Retouching (additive)
    Enlargement
    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
  • UV Fluorescence Recto negative
    Verso no data
  • Fiber Analysis No fiber data available
  • 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: Al, Si, P, S, Cl, K, Ca, Cr, Mn, Fe, Zn, Ag, Ba
    • Mount: Al, Si, S, K, Ca, Ti, Mn, Fe, Zn

    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, K, Ca, Ti, Cr, Ag, Ba
    Areas examined: Recto (Dmax: black; Dmin: green), Verso or Mount (blue), Background (red)
    Elements identified: Mn, Fe, Zn, Ag

In Context

Related Images

Spread from Aenne Biermann and Franz Roh. Aenne Biermann: 60 Fotos. Berlin: Klinkhardt & Biermann, 1930. The Museum of Modern Art Library, New York. Left: Aenne Biermann. Ficus elastic (Gummibaum). Right: Aenne Biermann. Conifer Branch (Nadelhozzweig)

Historical Publications

  • Roh, Franz. Aenne Biermann: 60 Fotos, pl. 1 (as Ficus elastica). Berlin: Klinkhardt & Biermann, 1930.

Historical Exhibitions

  • Museum Folkwang, Essen. Internationale Ausstellung Fotografie der Gegenwart. Organized by Kurt-Wilhelm Kästner. January 20–February 17, 1929.  (traveling exhibition)

     Städtische Ausstellungshallen, Stuttgart. Internationale Ausstellung des Deutschen Werkbunds Film und Foto (Fifo) (no. 132, as Gummibaum). Organized by Deutscher Werkbund. May 18-July 7, 1929. (traveling exhibition)

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