Untitled (El Lissitzky Working on a Stage Design of Sergei Tretyakov's Play "I Want a Baby" in the Meyerhold Theater)

Front / Recto

Title Untitled (El Lissitzky Working on a Stage Design of Sergei Tretyakov's Play "I Want a Baby" in the Meyerhold Theater)
Negative Date 1929
Print Date 1929–39
Medium Gelatin silver print
Dimensions Image 3 1/4 × 5 1/16" (8.2 × 12.8 cm)
Place Taken Moscow
Credit Line Thomas Walther Collection. Gift of Thomas Walther
MoMA Accession Number 1765.2001
Copyright © 2015 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn

Mount Type No mount
Marks and Inscriptions Inscribed in pencil on sheet verso, bottom right: TW 831102.
Provenance Georgii Miller Collection, USSR [1]; to Galerie Natan Fedorowskij, Berlin, probably early 1980s [2]; to Galerie Rudolf Kicken, Cologne, probably early 1980s [3]; purchased by Thomas Walther, November 25, 1983 [4]; given to The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2001.
[1] Rudolf Kicken, conversation with Simon Bieling, Kicken Berlin, February 17, 2004.
[2] Ibid.; and Ina Schmidt-Runke (Kicken Berlin), e-mail to Maria Morris Hambourg, November 13, 2013.
[3] MacGill/Walther 2001(4), p. 9; Kicken, conversation with Bieling; Schmidt-Runke, e-mail to Hambourg; and Galerie Rudolf Kicken invoice no. 225, November 25, 1983.
[4] MacGill/Walther 2001(4), p. 9; and MacGill/Walther 2000(2), p. 36.

Surface Sheen Matte
Techniques Retouching (additive)
Enlargement
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

Format Unknown
Weight Double weight
Thickness (mm) 0.34
UV Fluorescence Recto negative
Verso negative
Fiber Analysis Softwood bleached sulfite 95%
Hardwood bleached sulfite 4%
Rag 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, Cr, Zn, Sr, Ag, Ba
- Verso: Al, Ca, Cr, 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, P, S, Cl, Ca, Cr, Ag, Ba

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