Käte Steinitz’s Material

Abstract The Photography Conservation Department at Sprengel Museum Hannover carried out a small research project regarding the identification and dating of a collection of around 500 film-based negatives taken by the artist Käte Steinitz (1889–1975). The photographs were first visually examined, however, for the majority of the negatives, identification was not possible based solely on visual identifiers such as notch codes, edge markings, and degradation phenomena. Therefore, Fourier-transform Infrared Spectrometry in transflection mode was utilized. The project established that this collection consists of 64 % cellulose nitrate and 36 % cellulose acetate film. The results reiterate that proper identification of film negatives can only be accomplished in conjunction with analytical instrumentation.