Front / Recto

  • Title The Octopus
  • Negative Date 1909
  • Print Date 1910–20
  • Medium Gelatin silver print
  • Dimensions Image 22 1/8 × 16 3/4" (56.2 × 42.6 cm)
    Sheet 22 3/16 × 16 15/16" (56.4 × 43 cm)
    Mount 22 3/16 × 16 15/16" (56.4 × 43 cm)
  • Place Taken New York
  • Credit Line Thomas Walther Collection. Gift of Thomas Walther
  • MoMA Accession Number 1654.2001
  • Copyright © George Eastman House

Back / Verso

  • Mount Type Mount (original)
  • Marks and Inscriptions Inscribed in pencil on mount verso, center: 6 3/4". Inscribed in pencil on mount verso, bottom left: 43–48 [numbers circled individually, 43 crossed out]. Inscribed in pencil on mount verso, bottom left: 53 [circled and crossed out]. Inscribed in pencil on mount verso, bottom left: The Octopus, New York, 1912.
  • Provenance The artist, London; given to George Eastman House, Rochester, N.Y., 1967 [1]; to Frank Kolodny [2]; to Ezra Mack, Greenwich, Conn. [1]; purchased by Thomas Walther; given to The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2001.
    [1] Frank Kolodny, conversation with Maria Morris Hambourg, New York, spring 2013.
    [2] Ibid.
    [3] Ezra Mack, telephone conversation with Simon Bieling, June 22, 2004.

Surface

  • Surface Sheen Semireflective
  • Techniques Mount
    Retouching (additive)
    Coating
    Enlargement
    Retouching in negative
    Retouching (reductive)
  • PTM
    Detail 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
  • Fiber Analysis Softwood bleached sulfite 12%
    Rag 62%
    Bast 24%
    Softwood bleached kraft/soda 2.5%
  • 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 or mount: not available

    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), Background (red)
    Elements identified: P, S, Cl, Ca, Ag, Ba
    Areas examined: Recto (Dmax: black; Dmin: green), Background (red)
    Elements identified: Zn, Sr, Ag

In Context

Related Images

Alvin Langdon Coburn. The Octopus, New York. ca. 1912. Gelatin silver print, 6 x 8" (15.4 x 20.5 cm). Gift of Alvin Langdon Coburn. George Eastman House, Rochester
Alvin Langdon Coburn. The Octopus, New York. c. 1912. Gelatin silver print, 6 x 8" (15.4 x 20.5 cm). Gift of Alvin Langdon Coburn. George Eastman House, Rochester

Historical Publications

  • Coburn, Alvin. “Metropolitan Pictures.” Metropolitan Magazine 30, no. 3 (June 1909): 314 (as The Giant Shadow on Madison Square).

    The Goupil Gallery, London. Camera Pictures by Alvin Langdon Coburn, no. 53 (as The Octopus, in the series New York from Its Pinnacles). London: The Ballantyne Press, 1913.

Historical Exhibitions

  • The Goupil Gallery, London. Camera Pictures by Alvin Langdon Coburn (no. 53, as The Octopus, in the series New York from Its Pinnacles). October 1913.

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