My Child Speaks...

Front / Recto

Title My Child Speaks... from the article "Conversation over the Ocean: Marlene Dietrich Speaks from Hollywood with Her Little Child in Berlin" ("Gespräch über den Ozean: Marlene Dietrich spricht aus Hollywood mit ihrem Kindchen in Berlin") (Mein Kind spricht . . .)
Negative Date 1930
Print Date 1930–35
Medium Gelatin silver print
Dimensions Image 6 3/4 × 8 9/16" (17.1 × 21.8 cm)
Place Taken Los Angeles
Credit Line Thomas Walther Collection. Gift of Thomas Walther
MoMA Accession Number 1851.2001

Mount Type No mount
Marks and Inscriptions Inscribed in pencil on sheet verso, top left: E35. Stamped in brown ink on sheet verso, top center: Vintage/print [with circular outline]. Stamped in black ink on sheet verso, center: Dr. Erich Salomon/CHARLOTTENBURG 9/Hölderlinstrasse 11/Amt Westend 441. Inscribed in pencil on sheet verso, bottom center: P 24635.
Provenance The artist, Berlin; to the artist's estate (the artist's son, Peter Hunter), The Hague [1]; to Berlinische Galerie (Janos Frecot), Berlin [2]; by trade to Sander Gallery (Gerd Sander), New York, July 18, 1986 [3]; purchased by Galerie Berinson, Berlin [4]; to Thomas Walther, New York; given to The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2001.
[1] Janos Frecot, conversation with Simon Bieling, New York, March 2005. Peter Hunter was the name taken by Otto Erich Salomon, Erich Salomon's eldest son, while in exile in Great Britain in 1944.
[2] Hendrik Berinson, conversation with Bieling, Galerie Berinson, Berlin, February 18, 2005.
[3] MacGill/Walther 2001(4), p. 13; and Gerd Sander, letter to Maria Morris Hambourg, October 31, 2013.
[4] MacGill/Walther 2001(4), p. 13; Berinson, conversation with Bieling; Sander, letter to Hambourg; and Sander Gallery invoice no. 1086.8.GS.

Surface Sheen Glossy
Techniques 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

Format Unknown
Weight Single weight
Thickness (mm) 0.17
UV Fluorescence Recto negative
Verso negative
Fiber Analysis Softwood bleached sulfite 64%
Hardwood bleached sulfite 1%
Rag 28%
Bast 7%
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, P, S, Ca, 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, Ca, Ag, Ba

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

Salomon, Erich. “Gespräch über den Ozean: Marlene Dietrich spricht aus Hollywood mit ihrem Kindchen in Berlin.” Blatt der Hausfrau 26 (1930): 285 (as Mein Kind spricht - - -).