Front / Recto

  • Title Warriorlike Face (Kriegerisches Antlitz)
  • Negative Date 1926–27
  • Print Date 1926–27
  • Medium Gelatin silver print
  • Dimensions Image 6 13/16 × 4 13/16" (17.3 × 12.2 cm)
    Sheet 6 15/16 × 5 1/16" (17.7 × 12.9 cm)
  • Place Taken Berlin
  • Credit Line Thomas Walther Collection. Gift of Thomas Walther
  • MoMA Accession Number 1886.2001
  • Copyright © 2015 Umbo / Gallery Kicken Berlin / Phyllis Umbehr / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn

Back / Verso

  • Mount Type No mount - evidence previous mount
  • Marks and Inscriptions Inscribed in pencil on sheet verso, top right: CKM 40. Inscribed in pencil on sheet verso, top center: Höhe 18 cm. Inscribed in blue ink on sheet verso, center: [illegible] Umbo/Berlin/1926. Inscribed in pencil on sheet verso, center right: 80/11 061. Inscribed in pencil on sheet verso, center left: 194. Inscribed in pencil on sheet verso, bottom left: UMBO 7.
  • Provenance The artist, Berlin; to Paul Citroen (1896–1983), Berlin, c. 1927 [1]; to Egidio Marzona, Berlin/Bielefeld, 1975 [2]; purchased by Galerie Rudolf Kicken, Cologne, 1981 [3]; to Prakapas Gallery, Bronxville, N.Y., May 1986 [4]; purchased by Thomas Walther, July 1, 1986 [5]; given to The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2001.
    [1] MacGill/Walther 2001(4), p. 14; and Herbert Molderings, telephone conversation with Simon Bieling, August 2005.
    [2] MacGill/Walther 2001(4), p. 14; Molderings, telephone conversation with Bieling; Thomas Walther, conversation with Bieling, Berlin, August 2005; and Egidio Marzona, conversation with Walther, Berlin, April 2014.
    [3] MacGill/Walther 2001(4), p. 14; Rudolf Kicken, conversation with Bieling, Kicken Berlin, February 17, 2004; and Marzona, conversation with Walther.
    [4] MacGill/Walther 2001(4), p. 14; MacGill/Walther 2000(2), p. 55; William F. Cuozzi (on behalf of Dorothy Augusta Prakapas), letter to Maria Morris Hambourg, October 2013; and Prakapas Gallery records.
    [5] MacGill/Walther 2001(4), p. 14; MacGill/Walther 2000(2), p. 55; and Prakapas Gallery bill of sale, July 1, 1986.

Surface

  • Surface Sheen Matte
  • Techniques Mount
    Retouching (additive)
    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

Paper Material

  • Format Metric
  • Weight Double weight
  • Thickness (mm) 0.29
  • UV Fluorescence Recto negative
    Verso negative
  • Fiber Analysis Softwood bleached sulfite 56%
    Grass 18%
    Softwood bleached kraft 19%
    Hardwood bleached sulfite 6%
  • 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, Br, Sr, Ag, Ba, Pb
    • Verso: Al, Si, S, K, Ca, Fe, 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, Si, P, S, K, Ca, Ag, Ba
    Areas examined: Recto (Dmax: black; Dmin: green), Verso or Mount (blue), Background (red)
    Elements identified: Fe, Zn, Br, Sr, Ag, Pb

In Context

Historical Exhibitions

  • Städtische Ausstellungshallen, Stuttgart. Internationale Ausstellung des Deutschen Werkbunds Film und Foto (Fifo) (no. 905, as Kriegerisches Antlitz). Organized by Deutscher Werkbund. May 18–July 7, 1929. (traveling exhibition)

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