Front / Recto

  • Title Roofs, Paris
  • Negative Date 1913
  • Print Date 1913–55
  • Medium Gelatin silver print
  • Dimensions Image 8 9/16 × 10 7/8" (21.8 × 27.6 cm)
    Mount 20 1/16 × 15 9/16" (51 × 39.5 cm)
  • Place Taken Paris
  • Credit Line Thomas Walther Collection. Gift of Thomas Walther
  • MoMA Accession Number 1655.2001
  • Copyright © George Eastman House

Back / Verso

  • Mount Type Mount (original)
  • Marks and Inscriptions Signed in pencil on small mount recto, bottom right: Alvin Langdon Coburn [underlined]. Inscribed in pencil on large mount verso, bottom left: Roofs, Paris 1913. Inscribed in pencil on large mount verso, bottom left: 54 [circled and crossed out] and 52 [circled]. Inscribed in pencil on large mount verso, bottom left: 35–41 [numbers circled individually and whole group crossed out].
  • Provenance The artist, London. Ezra Mack, Greenwich, Conn. [1]; purchased by Thomas Walther; given to The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2001.
    [1] MacGill/Walther 2000, p. 8.

Surface

  • Surface Sheen Matte
  • Techniques Mount
    Retouching (additive)
  • 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 Unknown
  • UV Fluorescence Recto negative
    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: S, Cl, Ca, Zn, Rb, Sr, Ag, Ba, Pb
    • Mount: Al, Si, P, S, K, Ca, Fe, Zn, Rb, Sr

    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, Ag, Ba
    Areas examined: Recto (Dmax: black; Dmin: green), Verso or Mount (blue), Background (red)
    Elements identified: Fe, Zn, Rb, Sr, Ag, Pb

In Context

Related Images

Alvin Langdon Coburn.Roofs, Paris. 1913. Gelatin silver print, 5 1/3 x 11 3/4" (23.5 x 30.4 cm.). Gift of Alvin Langdon Coburn. George Eastman House

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