The MCA’s basement-dwelling Rights and Images department is rarely called upon to answer last-minute installation questions days before the opening of an exhibition. Such was the case, however, regarding a recently acquired work, Edward Krasinski’s Interwencja (Intervention) (1983) in Above, Before & After.

Interwencja (Intervention) was jointly purchased by the MCA and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2014 and this would be its first time on view in the MCA’s galleries. Months prior to its May unveiling, I had sourced an archival image of the work for the wall label. The photo shows the piece as it was hung in the artist’s studio, directly above his bathtub. It is a literal arm’s length away from his kitchen sink and stove. Should he have felt so inclined, Krasinski could have put the kettle on for tea, admired his work, and washed the dishes—all from the lathery comfort of his bathtub.

This photo is a gem.

There is one detail in the image, however, that I didn’t take much notice of before exhibition installation began: the work’s orientation. Installation instructions and newer photos of Interwencja (Intervention) show the larger rectangle on the left side of the piece, counter to what the photo portrays.

A member of the museum’s design team caught this discrepancy and brought it to my attention. And with that, I sent an urgent email to the Foksal Gallery Foundation, the source of the bathtub photo and representative gallery of the artist, to find out which party was right: us or the photo. The Foundation informed me that Krasinski installed the work both ways and accepted either hanging.

The Rights and Images department deals largely in artwork reproductions (online, in catalogues, etc.). Seldom are we responsible for the subjects of the images we handle in person. Any number of factors can send an erroneously oriented photo to print: an inverted scan; incorrect hanging at the point of photography; or good old fashion human error (NB: this happens more than art museums care to admit).

Our rule of thumb: when in doubt, go to the source. Never, prior to this moment, had the source said: it’s up to you.