Front / Recto

  • Title Féral Benga
  • Negative Date 1930
  • Print Date 1930–39
  • Medium Gelatin silver print
  • Dimensions Image 8 15/16 × 6 11/16" (22.7 × 17 cm)
  • Place Taken Paris
  • Credit Line Thomas Walther Collection. Gift of Thomas Walther
  • MoMA Accession Number 1771.2001

Back / Verso

  • Mount Type No mount
  • Marks and Inscriptions Signed in black ink on sheet recto, bottom right: ELI/LOTAR/1930.
  • Provenance The artist, Paris; by inheritance to the estate of the artist [1]; sold through Hôtel Drouot, Paris, to Galerie Marc Pagneux, Paris, c. 1995 [2]; purchased by Thomas Walther, June 10, 1998 [3]; given to The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2001.
    [1] Marc Pagneux, e-mail to Simon Bieling, June 20, 2005.
    [2] MacGill/Walther 2001(4), p. 9; and Pagneux, e-mail to Bieling. There was no auction catalogue for this sale.
    [3] Galerie Marc Pagneux invoice, June 10, 1998

Surface

  • Surface Sheen Semireflective
  • Techniques Enlargement
  • 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 Metric
  • Weight Double weight
  • Thickness (mm) 0.30
  • UV Fluorescence Recto negative
    Verso negative
  • Fiber Analysis Softwood bleached sulfite 99%
    Hardwood bleached sulfite 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
    • Verso: Al, S, Ca, Zn, Br, 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, P, S, Ca, Ag, Ba
    Areas examined: Recto (Dmax: black; Dmin: green), Verso or Mount (blue), Background (red)
    Elements identified: Zn, Sr, Ag

In Context

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