Front / Recto

  • Title Glance to the Sun (Blick zur Sonne)
  • Negative Date 1928
  • Print Date 1934–39
  • Medium Gelatin silver print
  • Dimensions Image 13 1/16 x 14 1/2" (33.2 x 36.8 cm)
    Mount 13 1/4 × 14 9/16" (33.6 × 37 cm)
  • Place Taken Berlin
  • Credit Line Thomas Walther Collection. Gift of Thomas Walther
  • MoMA Accession Number 1736.2001
  • Copyright © 2015 / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Germany

Back / Verso

  • Mount Type Mount (original)
  • Marks and Inscriptions Signed in white ink on sheet recto, bottom left: Kesting foto. Inscribed in pencil on mount verso, center: 48. Inscribed in blue ink on mount verso, center: Nr. 48 Konstantin Kesting 1928 [with rectangular outline] and Aufnahme Edmund Kesting. Inscribed in pencil on mount verso, bottom right: TW 900301.
  • Provenance The artist, Berlin; to the artist's estate (the artist's son, Konstantin Kesting), Birkenwerder, Germany [1]; to Galerie Berinson, Berlin, c. 1990 [2]; purchased by Thomas Walther, possibly March 1990 [3]; given to The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2001.
    [1]MacGill/Walther 2001(4), p. 7.
    [2] Ibid.
    [3] Thomas Walther archival no. TW 900301 on mount verso.

Surface

  • Surface Sheen Matte
  • Techniques Mount
    Retouching (additive)
    Enlargement
    Retouching (reductive)
    Solarization
    Toned (hand colored)
  • 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 no data
    Verso no data
  • Fiber Analysis Softwood bleached sulfite 95%
    Hardwood bleached sulfite 1%
    Rag 3%
    Bast 1%
  • 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, P, S, K, Ca, Fe, 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: Fe, Zn, Sr, Ag, Pb

In Context

Related Images

Edmund Kesting. Konstantin. 1928-29. Reproduced in Klaus Werner. Edmund Kesting: Ein Mahler fotografiert (Edmund Kesting: A painter phototgraphs). Leipzig: VEB Fotokinoverlag, 1987. The Museum of Modern Art Library, New York. © 2014/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/VG Bild-Kunst, Germany
Spread from Edmund Kesting. Ein Maler sieht durch’s Objektiv (A Painter sees through the lens). Halle: Fotokino Verlag, 1958. © 2014/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/VG Bild-Kunst, Germany

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