Rayograph (Nude with vapour), 1930

Details

MAN RAY
Rayograph (Nude with vapour), 1930
unique gelatin silver print
'MAN RAY/31bis, RUE/CAMPAGNE/PREMIÈRE/PARIS XIVe' credit stamp on verso; signed 'Man Ray' in pencil on mount; same credit stamp, numbered '2 ter' in unknown hand in pencil on reverse of mount
print: 11½ x 10¾in. (29.2 x 22cm.); mount: 20 x 13¼in. (50.8 x 33.6cm.), watermarked 'VAN GELDER ZONEN' (partially visible)

Literature

de l'Ecotais & Sayag (eds.), Man Ray: Photography and its Double, Gingko Press, 1998, p.148, for the contact print of the nude female torso; de l'Ecotais, Man Ray: Rayographies, Editions Léo Scheer, 2002, p.259, cat.236, for the published photogravure variant (pl.10: Salle de Bains) in Electricité.

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 15% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

This image, comprising a nude torso, a bathtub-shaped silhouette and a vapour-like element, evokes bathing. The published variant, titled 'Salle de Bains' (fig.1), shows an almost identical composition apart from the 'steam' element which has been omitted. The nude female torso which appears here, in the variant with speckles (lot 15), as well as in the published variant (fig.1) is that of the same model used for 'Electricité' (pl.3).1 To create this image, Man Ray combined camera-based and camera-less elements, continuously reinventing the Rayograph.

This work will be included in the forthcoming Catalogue Raisonné of the Rayographs being prepared by Man Ray Research Scholar Steven Manford.

1 de l'Ecotais & Sayag (eds.), Man Ray: Photography and its Double, Gingko Press, 1998, p.149.

More from Photographs

View All