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拍品专文
One of Man Ray’s most accomplished nude studies, La Prière conjures a phantasmal, surrealist image through refined photographic techniques and a layered play of dualities and double-entendres. The title reflects the artist’s fascination with ambiguity in both image and language, as well as his delight in jargon and wordplay. While the literal translation is The Prayer, the phrase can also mean The Invitation, and in old slang, “to reveal where the money is hidden.” The model for the image, Lee Miller, is posed in an undeniably erotic manner, yet the positioning of her hands evokes prayer and chastity. Through strategic lighting and framing, Man Ray achieves a sense of disembodiment that intensifies the work’s enigmatic tension between the sacred and the profane.
Man Ray worked fluidly across media, materials, and modes of presentation to express his artistic intent. The present photograph was taken in 1930, but is here presented as an artist's proof from an edition of seven on stretched linen made by the artist in the 1960s, underscoring Man Ray’s continued experimentation with materials and presentation throughout his career.
Man Ray worked fluidly across media, materials, and modes of presentation to express his artistic intent. The present photograph was taken in 1930, but is here presented as an artist's proof from an edition of seven on stretched linen made by the artist in the 1960s, underscoring Man Ray’s continued experimentation with materials and presentation throughout his career.