Lot #810: MAN RAY - Barbette, the Transvestite, Dressing - Original vintage photogravure

 

Artist: Man Ray (American, 1890 - 1976).
Title: "Barbette, the Transvestite, Dressing".
Medium: Original vintage photogravure.
Date: Composed 1926. Printed 1934.
Dimensions: Image size: 10 5/16 x 7 5/8 in. (262 x 194 mm).
Pricing:
  Starting Price: $400
  Reserve Price: N.A.
  Auction Sale Price Estimate: $600/700
Lot Note(s): 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/board.
Comment(s): A male dancer in drag, adjusting "her" stockings. "A popular vaudeville performer of the 1920s and 1930s took the stage name of Barbette. He first began dressing as a woman when hired to replace a female tightrope walker. Barbette soon devised his own act, walking the high wire and performing trapeze stunts in elegant gowns, then removing his wig at the end of the show to reveal his true gender." (Courtesy: Getty Museum). See: www.manraytrust.com, pg.23. Image copyright © ADAGP/BNF - Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris. [6625-2-400-NA]