MAN RAY (1890–1976)

Mathematical Object, 1934–1935

Details

MAN RAY (1890–1976)
Mathematical Object, 1934–1935
gelatin silver print
stamped 'MAN RAY - 8/DU VAL-DE-GRACE/PARIS 5e - FRANCE/DANTON 92-25' [Manford M9] (verso); credited, titled and dated on affixed gallery label (frame backing)
image/sheet: 11 5/8 x 9 1/8 in. (29.7 x 23 cm.)

Provenance

The Collection of Juliet Man Ray;
Robert Miller Gallery, New York;
Galerie Montaigne, Paris;
acquired from the above by the present owner.

Literature

Wendy A. Grossman and Edouard Sebline (eds.), Man Ray Human Equations, A Journey from Mathematics to Shakespeare, The Phillips Collection, Washington D. C., 2016, p. 62.

Exhibited

New York, Robert Miller Gallery, Man Ray Mathematical Objects, May 3–June 30, 1983.

Brought to you by

Rebecca Jones

rjones@christies.com +1 212 636 2330

Lot Essay

The plaster model depicted in this photograph shows a seemingly arbitrary cluster of cubic forms. In fact, it depicts a unique form in which no shapes overlap. The symmetry is fixated within one central point—a 'space-tiling crystalline structure due to Schoenflies', (Man Ray Human Equations, p. 105). This image served as the inspiration for Man Ray's painting The Tempest.

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