JTF (just the facts): A total of 30 black and white works, variously framed and matted, and hung in the entry and main gallery space. All of the works are vintage gelatin silver prints, made between 1917 and 1947, with the vast majority made in the 1920s and 1930s. The prints range in size from a small 2 inch diameter circle (a portrait of Lee Miller) to larger, roughly 11×9 works. (Installation shots at right.)
The show covers a wide range of subject matter and technique: unexpected abstract rayographs, nudes (both male and female), solarizations, and a large collection of excellent portraits (Breton, Joyce, Duchamp et al.). I particularly enjoyed seeing the face of Max Ernst fragmented by broken glass, as well as the small nudes of Meret Oppenheim. The two versions of the portrait of Dora Maar, one with a dark background, the other with a more intense, solarized/negative effect, show how Man Ray was experimenting with combining different visual ideas – the outcome is a classic of Surrealism.
Man Ray’s photographs are consistently available at auction. Lesser known works and later prints can be as inexpensive as $3000-5000, while his more mainstream pieces typically range between $10000 and $40000. Vintage rayographs and iconic works, when they infrequently appear, have stretched between $100000 and $450000.
- Review: New Yorker (here)
- Feature: NPR (here)
- Alias Man Ray: The Art of Reinvention, Jewish Museum, 2009 (DLK COLLECTION review here)
New York, NY 10151
