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Lot Essay
The title of this poetic object is, as Man Ray explained, an appropriation of a quote from Friedrich Engel, which the artist read on the cover of the magazine La Révolution Surréaliste in 1926: 'Ce qui manque a tous ces messieurs, c'est la dialectique' ('What all these gentlemen lack is dialectics'). Man Ray however felt that what we are all lacking is imagination - of which the pipe with the bubble is a perfect symbol.
First conceived in 1927, the original object was lost and in 1935 Man Ray had a replica made for the 1936 show Exposition Surréaliste at Galerie Charles Ratton. A first impression of six examples was made in 1963 and another in 1973. The present example is from this second edition of nine examples (and three proofs), commissioned by the Galerie Il Fauno, Turin, in collaboration with Lucien Treillard.
According to his notes, Man Ray had envisaged to produce an edition from early on, a project which apparently was not realised at the time.
First conceived in 1927, the original object was lost and in 1935 Man Ray had a replica made for the 1936 show Exposition Surréaliste at Galerie Charles Ratton. A first impression of six examples was made in 1963 and another in 1973. The present example is from this second edition of nine examples (and three proofs), commissioned by the Galerie Il Fauno, Turin, in collaboration with Lucien Treillard.
According to his notes, Man Ray had envisaged to produce an edition from early on, a project which apparently was not realised at the time.