Front / Recto

  • Title Incandescent Lamp (Glühbirne)
  • Negative Date 1928
  • Print Date 1928–39
  • Medium Gelatin silver print
  • Dimensions Image 14 1/2 × 9 3/4" (36.9 × 24.7 cm)
  • Place Taken Halle
  • Credit Line Thomas Walther Collection. Gift of Thomas Walther
  • MoMA Accession Number 1670.2001
  • Copyright © Stiftung Moritzburg, Kunstmuseum des Landes. Sachsen-Anhalt

Back / Verso

  • Mount Type No mount
  • Marks and Inscriptions Inscribed in pencil on sheet verso, bottom left: 81.5.15.28. Inscribed in pencil on sheet verso, bottom left: LORE. Inscribed in pencil on sheet verso, bottom right: TW 870503.
  • Provenance The artist; to Lotte Pottel [1]; purchased by Prakapas Gallery, Bronxville, N.Y., c. May 15, 1981 [2]; purchased by Thomas Walther, May 1987 [3]; given to The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2001.
    [1] Prakapas Gallery invoice, May 5, 1987. Lotte Pottel was a former student of Finsler. Together they designed an advertising brochure for the chocolate company Most, in Halle, Germany.
    [2] MacGill/Walther 2000, p. 10; Dorothy Augusta Prakapas, letter to Maria Morris Hambourg, October 2013; and Prakapas Gallery inventory no. 81.5.15.28 on sheet verso. The number indicates that the print was purchased some time prior to and around May 15, 1981.
    [3] Prakapas invoice, annotated with Thomas Walther archival no. TW 870503; and Walther archival no. TW 870503 on sheet verso.

Surface

  • Surface Sheen Glossy
  • Techniques Retouching (additive)
    Enlargement
    Ferrotyping
    Retouching in negative
    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 Unknown
  • Weight Double weight
  • Thickness (mm) 0.29
  • UV Fluorescence Recto negative
    Verso negative
  • Fiber Analysis Softwood bleached sulfite 98%
    Hardwood bleached sulfite 2%
  • 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, Sr, Ag, Ba
    • Verso: Al, Si, S, K, Ca, Zn, Sr, Ba

    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, S, Cl, K, Ca, Ag, Ba
    Areas examined: Recto (Dmax: black; Dmin: green), Verso or Mount (blue), Background (red)
    Elements identified: Zn, Sr, Ag

In Context

Related Images

Spread from Franz Roh and Jan Tschichold. Foto-Auge: 76 Fotos der Zeit (Photo-Eye: 76 photos of the time). Stuttgart: F. Wedekind, 1929. The Museum of Modern Art Library, New York. Left: Hans Finsler. Woven Material (Stoff). Right: Hans Finsler. Incandescent Lamp (Glühbirne). © Stiftung Moritzburg, Kunstmuseum des Landes Sachsen-Anhalt

Historical Publications

  • Roh, Franz, and Jan Tschichold. Foto-Auge: 76 Fotos der Zeit, pl. 14 (as Glühbirne—Lampe à incandescence—Incandescent Lamp). Stuttgart: Akademischer Verlag Dr. Fritz Wedekind & Co., 1929.

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