400 Man Ray works, direct from his studio, to sell at Sotheby's

Sotheby's will offer the last chance to buy works direct from the studio of dada and surrealist artist Man Ray, on November 15 in Paris.

Man Ray Ostrich Egg
Man Ray's most famous photographs form the core of the auction, complemented by lesser known works



The sale is being held by the Man Ray Trust, and follows on from Sotheby's auction of works from his studio in London in 1995. Over 400 works will be sold in the "largest and most important" sale of Man Ray works in 20 years.

The main section of the sale comprises 191 lots of vintage photographs, including Man Ray's Magnolia Flower (1926), Starfish (1928), Ostrich Egg (1914) and Mathematical Object (1934).

Also featuring will be Man Ray's renowned photographic portraits of the luminaries of 1920s and 1930s Paris, as well as his paintings, led by Juliet, Purple Mask (1948) and Much Ado about Nothing (1949).


As a leader of the dada movement, Man Ray's creations rejected reason and embraced irrationality



Surrealist objects will provide unique bidding opportunities between the artworks on offer, most notably Man Ray's Ce que manque a nous tous - a clay pipe with a glass bubble.

Like many of his contemporaries, Man Ray also turned his hand to jewellery making, represented in the sale by a gold brooch of the lips of model and photographer Lee Miller.

With Man Ray fascinated by the game of chess and its significance, two chess sets along with numerous photographs and drawings of his chess designs will also feature.

"This incredibly varied ensemble groups together vintage prints of some of Man Ray's most emblematic images as well as some of his least known works, ranging from Surrealist compositions to portraits of contemporary personalities, also including hitherto unseen landscapes of France and the United States," said Simon Klein, Sotheby's head of European photographs.

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