Front / Recto

  • Title Untitled (Smoke Stacks)
  • Negative Date 1929
  • Print Date 1929–55
  • Medium Gelatin silver print
  • Dimensions Image 9 15/16 × 7 15/16" (25.3 × 20.2 cm)
    Mount 11 × 9" (27.9 × 22.9 cm)
  • Place Taken New York
  • Credit Line Thomas Walther Collection. Gift of Thomas Walther
  • MoMA Accession Number 1641.2001
  • Copyright © 2015 Anton Bruehl Estate

Back / Verso

  • Mount Type Mount (later)
  • Marks and Inscriptions Inscribed in pencil on mount verso, top left: #90 [circled] and KB. Inscribed in purple ink on mount verso, top right: 90 [circled]. Inscribed in pencil on mount verso, bottom center: AB-025.
  • Provenance The artist; to Martin J. Bruehl (1922-1967) [1]; by inheritance to the estate of Martin J. Bruehl (the artist's nephew, Anton Martin Bruehl), 1967 [2]; to Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York, 1998 [3]; purchased by Thomas Walther, 1998 [4]; to The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2001.
    [1] The photographer's brother and studio partner.
    [2] Howard Greenberg, conversation with Simon Bieling, New York, April 10, 2005.
    [3] MacGill/Walther 2001(4), p. 2; Alicia Colen (Howard Greenberg Gallery), email to Maria Morris Hambourg, November 5, 2013.
    [4] Ibid.

Surface

  • Surface Sheen Glossy
  • Techniques Mount
    Retouching (additive)
    Ferrotyping
    Contact print
  • 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 Imperial
  • UV Fluorescence Recto negative
    Verso no data     Recto no data
    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: Al, P, S, Cl, Ca, Cr, Zn, Sr, Ag, Ba, Pb
    • Mount: Mg, Al, Si, S, Ca, Fe, Zn, Pb

    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: Mg, Al, Si, P, S, Cl, Ca, Ag, Ba
    Areas examined: Recto (Dmax: black; Dmin: green), Verso or Mount (blue), Background (red)
    Elements identified: Fe, Zn, Sr, Ag, Pb

In Context

Historical Publications

  • New Yorker, June 1, 1929, p. 41 (as untitled photograph in advertisement for Weber & Heilbroner clothing company, credited to Anton Bruehl—Courtesy Clyde-Mallory Line).

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