Front / Recto

  • Title Jean Cocteau
  • Negative Date 1929
  • Print Date 1929–55
  • Medium Gelatin silver print
  • Dimensions Image 8 3/4 × 6 1/2" (22.3 × 16.5 cm)
    Mount 13 × 10 3/16" (33 × 25.8 cm)
  • Place Taken Paris
  • Credit Line Thomas Walther Collection. Gift of Thomas Walther
  • MoMA Accession Number 1753.2001
  • Copyright © Estate Germaine Krull, Museum Folkwang, Essen

Back / Verso

  • Mount Type Mount (original)
  • Marks and Inscriptions Signed in pencil on mount recto, bottom right: G Krull.
  • Provenance The artist, Paris. Private collection, Paris [1]; to Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York [2]; purchased by Thomas Walther, June 1990 [3]; given to The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2001.
    [1] MacGill/Walther 2001(4), p. 8; and Edwynn Houk, conversation with Simon Bieling, New York, March 30, 2005.
    [2] MacGill/Walther 2001(4), p. 8; and Houk, conversation with Bieling.
    [3] MacGill/Walther 2001(4), p. 8; and Edwynn Houk Gallery invoice no. 4990, June 28, 1990.

Surface

  • Surface Sheen Matte
  • Techniques Mount
    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 Unknown
  • UV Fluorescence Recto negative
    Verso no data
  • Fiber Analysis No fiber data available
  • 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, Fe, Zn, Sr, Ag, Ba, Pb
    • Mount: Al, Si, K, Ca, Fe, Zn, 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, 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

Germaine Krull. Jean Cocteau. 1929. Gelatin silver print, 8 7/8 x 6 3/8" (22.6 x 16.2 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. The Family of Man Fund, The Fellows of Photography Fund, and Horace W. Goldsmith Fund through Robert B. Menschel. © Estate Germaine Krull, Museum Folkwang, Essen

Related People

Related Links

Related Essays

For best results, please enable JavaScript.