Front / Recto

  • Title Deep Sea Mud 380/1 (Micrograph) (Tiefseeschlamm 380/1 [Mikroskopische Aufnahme])
  • Negative Date 1930–32
  • Print Date 1930–32
  • Medium Gelatin silver print
  • Dimensions Image 15 1/8 × 11 3/16" (38.4 × 28.4 cm)
    Sheet 15 1/2 × 11 5/8" (39.4 × 29.5 cm)
  • Place Taken Cologne
  • Credit Line Thomas Walther Collection. Gift of Thomas Walther
  • MoMA Accession Number 1745.2001

Back / Verso

  • Mount Type No mount
  • Marks and Inscriptions Embossed stamp on sheet recto, bottom right: A. KREYENKAMP/PHOTOGR. KOLN. Label affixed to sheet verso, top left, with text printed in black ink: Accepted/and hung/at the/42nd/Toronto/Salon of/Photography/held under the/auspices of the/Toronto/Camera Club/in Canada/A. 1933 D. Inscribed in pencil on sheet verso, top right: H2/23. Stamped in black ink on sheet verso, top right: 115. Stamped in black ink on sheet verso, top center: AUGUST KREYENKAMP/FOTOGRAF, D.W.B. KÖLN/MAINZERSTRASSE 17/FERNRUF HANSA 99101 [with rectangular outline]. Stamped in black ink on sheet verso, center: REPRODUKTION NUR MIT ERLAUBNIS U./ANGABE DES URHEBERS GESTATTET./AUG. KREYENKAMP. PHOTOGR., KÖLN. Inscribed in pencil on sheet verso, center: No. 4 Tiefseeschlamm 380/1. Inscribed in pencil on sheet verso, center: Ooze (Deep Sea Mud) × 380.
  • Provenance The artist; to the artist's family [1]; sold through Christie's London (lot 198) to Keith de Lellis Fine Art Photography, New York, May 3, 1995 [2]; purchased by Thomas Walther, May 12, 1995 [3]; given to The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2001.
    [1] Keith de Lellis, telephone conversation with Simon Bieling, March 30, 2005.
    [2] de Lellis, letter to Audrey Sands, October 26, 2013.
    [3] Keith de Lellis Fine Art Photography invoice, May 12, 1995.

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) 0.34
  • UV Fluorescence Recto negative
    Verso negative
  • Fiber Analysis Softwood bleached sulfite 93%
    Hardwood bleached sulfite 5%
    Hardwood bleached sulfite
    Rag 1%
    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, Ca, Zn, Sr, Ag, Ba, Pb
    • Mount: Al, Si, P, S, Ca, Fe, 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, P, S, Ca, Fe, Ag, Ba
    Areas examined: Recto (Dmax: black; Dmin: green), Verso or Mount (blue), Background (red)
    Elements identified: Fe, Zn, Sr, Ag, Pb

In Context

Historical Publications

  • Kölnischer Kunstverein. Ausstellungen von Januar 1929 bis Januar 1932 im Kunstgewerbe-Museum der Stadt Köln, p. 30 (as Mikroskopische Aufnahme). Cologne: Das Kunstverein, 1932.

Historical Exhibitions

  • Kunstgewerbemuseum, Cologne. Ausstellung der Vereinigung Kölner Fachfotografen (no. 56, as Mikroskopische Aufnahme). 1932.

    Toronto Camera Club. 42nd Annual Exhibition. April 1932. (this print)

     

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