Front / Recto

  • Title Erich Salomon
  • Negative Date 1929
  • Print Date 1929–44
  • Medium Gelatin silver print
  • Dimensions Image 9 1/8 x 6 1/2" (23.2 x 16.5 cm)
  • Place Taken Berlin
  • Credit Line Thomas Walther Collection. Gift of Thomas Walther
  • MoMA Accession Number 1668.2001

Back / Verso

  • Mount Type No mount
  • Marks and Inscriptions

    Inscribed in blue ink on sheet verso, top center: E. SALOMON. Inscribed in blue ink on sheet verso, top left: Geschenk von/Peter Hunter/18. Mai 1979/Berlin/Tim Gidal. Inscribed in pencil on sheet verso, top center: 1 [circled]. Inscribed in red ink on sheet verso, top right: 1 [circled]. Inscribed in blue ink on sheet verso, left: 640724. Inscribed in blue ink on sheet verso, center: Tür besteht/noch im Hause/Hölderlinstr./3. Stock/(jetzt: Zentral[stel]le/für kulturelle Befreiung/e.V. [1]). Inscribed in pencil on sheet verso, center left: 316/317 and 1 [circled, all underlined]. Inscribed in blue ink on sheet verso, center right: Dr. [illegible]. Stamped three times in black ink on sheet verso, center: COPYRIGHT BY/PETER HUNTER/PRESS FEATURES/Koninginneweg 148/AMSTERDAM-Z./Tel. (020) - 71 55 39/Postgiro 611762 [crossed out]. Inscribed in blue ink on sheet verso, bottom center: Pic. by Lore FEININGER. Inscribed in pencil on sheet verso, bottom left: HH969-1. Inscribed in pencil on sheet verso, around left, top, and right edges: [border with wavy lines].

    [1] "The door still exists in the Hölderlinstrasse house 3rd floor (now the Center for Cultural Liberation)."
  • Provenance The artist; to Erich Salomon (1886–1944), The Hague; by inheritance to Salomon's son, Peter Hunter, Great Britain/The Hague, 1944 [1]; given to Tim Gidal (1909–1996), May 18, 1979 [2]. Sold through Christie's New York (sale 7649, lot 93) to Thomas Walther, December 14, 1994 [3]; given to The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2001.
    [1] Peter Hunter was the name taken by Otto Erich Salomon, Erich Salomon's eldest son, while in exile in Great Britain in 1944.
    [2] Inscription on sheet verso.
    [3] Christie’s invoice no. J228948, December 21, 1994.

Surface

  • Surface Sheen Semireflective
  • Techniques Retouching (additive)
    Enlargement
  • 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
  • Weight Double weight
  • Thickness (mm) 0.28
  • UV Fluorescence Recto negative
    Verso negative
  • Fiber Analysis Softwood bleached sulfite 94%
    Hardwood bleached sulfite 6%
  • 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, Pb
    • Verso: Al, Si, S, K, Ca, Zn, Sr, Ba, 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: Al, Si, P, S, Cl, K, Ca, Ag, Ba
    Areas examined: Recto (Dmax: black; Dmin: green), Verso or Mount (blue), Background (red)
    Elements identified: Zn, Sr, Ag, Pb

In Context

Related Images

“Eine neue Künstler-Gilde: Der Fotograf erobert Neuland.” (“A New Artist Guild: The Photographer Conquers New Territory”) Uhu 6, no. 1 (October 1929).

Historical Publications

  • “Eine neue Künstler-Gilde: Der Fotograf erobert Neuland.” Uhu 6, no. 1 (October 1929): 35 (as Dr. Erich Salomon).

    Elbogen, Paul. “Dr. Salomon des Photographen mit der Tarnkappe.” Das Leben 9, no. 6 (December 1931): 5 (as Er selber).

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