Lot #1086: MAN RAY - Le violon d'Ingres - Original vintage photogravure

 

Artist: Man Ray (American, 1890 - 1976).
Title: "Le violon d'Ingres".
Medium: Original vintage photogravure.
Date: Composed 1924. Printed 1933.
Dimensions: Image size: 9 7/16 x 7 7/16 in. (240 x 189 mm).
Lot Note(s): Signed "Man Ray" and dated in the negative, lower right; stamped with the photographer's name, verso. Edition unknown, presumed small. High-grade archival paper. Printed to the edge of the sheet. Fine, quality printing. Very good to fine condition; affixed to very thin and supple archival acid-free support sheet, not mount/boardt. Comment(s): One of Man Ray's most famous images, depicting Kiki de Montparnasse. "Man Ray was an admirer of the paintings of Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres and made a series of photographs, inspired by Ingres's languorous nudes, of the model Kiki in a turban. Painting the F-holes of a stringed instrument onto the photographic print and then re-photographing the print, Man Ray altered what was originally a classical nude. He also added the title 'Le Violon d'Ingres', a French idiom that means "hobby." The transformation of Kiki's body into a musical instrument with the crude addition of a few brushstrokes makes this a humorous image, but her armless form is also disturbing to contemplate. The title seems to suggest that, while playing the violin was Ingres's hobby, toying with Kiki was a pastime of Man Ray. The picture maintains a tension between objectification and appreciation of the female form." (Courtesy: Getty Museum). See: www.manraytrust.com, pg.8. Image copyright © DAGP/Man Ray Trust - Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris. [22741-3-2400]