Rayograph (Nude with speckles), 1930

Details

MAN RAY
Rayograph (Nude with speckles), 1930
unique gelatin silver print
signed 'Man Ray' in pencil on mount; 'MAN RAY/31bis, RUE/CAMPAGNE/PREMIÈRE/PARIS XIVe' credit stamp, numbered '2 bis' in unknown hand in pencil on reverse of mount
print: 11¼ x 8 7/8in. (28.6 x 22.3cm.); mount: 20 x 13¼in. (50.8 x 33.6cm.), watermarked 'VAN GELDER ZONEN' (partially visible)

Literature

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; 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.

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

Compared with the variant (lot 12), the photogram elements seen here do not lend themselves to a clear reading of the image. The rediscovery of these two variants (lots 12 & 15) enables us to see the various ways in which Man Ray tested and rearranged his props in an attempt to represent the benefits of electricity in the bathroom. The existence of these three versions of 'Salle de Bains' further reveals the artist's meticulous creative processes behind these seemingly effortless compositions.

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

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