Front / Recto

  • Title Study (Étude)
  • Negative Date 1931
  • Print Date 1931–60
  • Medium Gelatin silver print
  • Dimensions Image 8 7/16 x 6 1/16" (21.5 x 15.4 cm)
  • Place Taken Paris
  • Credit Line Thomas Walther Collection. Gift of Thomas Walther
  • MoMA Accession Number 1754.2001
  • Copyright © Estate Germaine Krull, Museum Folkwang, Essen

Back / Verso

  • Mount Type No mount
  • Marks and Inscriptions Inscribed in pencil on sheet verso, center: Etude [underlined]. Stamped in blue ink on sheet verso, center: COPYRIGHT BY/Germaine KRULL/PARIS [with square outline, oriented upside down with respect to image]. Inscribed in pencil on sheet verso, bottom left: No 5. Inscribed in pencil on sheet verso: TW 770713.
  • Provenance The artist, Paris. Sold through Christie's East (lot 133), New York, to Jane Corkin Gallery, Toronto, November 8, 1983 [1]; purchased by Thomas Walther [2]; given to The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2001.
    [1] Jane Corkin, telephone conversation with Maria Morris Hambourg, November 2013.
    [2] Ibid.

Surface

  • Surface Sheen Glossy
  • Techniques Enlargement
    Ferrotyping
  • 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 Single weight
  • Thickness (mm) 0.16
  • UV Fluorescence Recto positive
    Verso positive
  • Fiber Analysis Softwood bleached sulfite 96%
    Softwood bleached alpha 4%
  • 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: Al, P, S, Ca, Zn, Br, Sr, Ag, Ba
    • Verso: Al, Si, S, K, Ca, 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, K, Ca, Fe, Ag, Ba
    Areas examined: Recto (Dmax: black; Dmin: green), Verso or Mount (blue), Background (red)
    Elements identified: Zn, Br, Sr, Ag

In Context

Related Images

Germain Krull. Study. Reproduced in Georges Simenon. La Folle d’Itteville. Paris: Phototexte, 1931.The Museum of Modern Art Library, New York. © Estate Germaine Krull, Museum Folkwang, Essen

Historical Publications

  • Simenon, Georges. La Folle d’Itteville (as untitled photograph). Paris: Phototexte, 1931.

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