Man Ray (1890–1976) - Le Violon d'Ingres, 1924

Man Ray, Le Violon d'Ingres, 1924.

Le Violon d'Ingres was made in 1924 and was published for the first time that same year in the magazine Littérature directed by André Breton, and since then it has been considered one of the icons of the surrealist movement.

'Copyright Man Ray Trust / Adagp-SIAE / Telimage - 2006' in the upper left corner.
Artist's dry stamp in the lower right corner of the image.
Total dimensions: 41,5 x 31,5 cm on semi-gloss paper.
Fine condition.

Man Ray created a photomontage open to various interpretations. It is a tribute to Ingres' voluptuous nudes, to erotic desire with the appearance of elegant sensitivity, moving through the fascination with music and dance, portraying his lover Kiki de Montparnasse from behind and transforming the female body into an instrument of rope.

Inspired by the nude studies of the French neoclassical painter Jean-Auguste Dominique Ingres (1780-1867), of sublime aestheticism, the model adopts the same pose as those of the classical artist, although she incorporates the shawl that Man Ray asked her to wear as a turban to wrap his head.

In this work, the American creator used several different techniques, painting, rayography and re-photography of other existing negatives and prints, retouching by hand, on Kiki's back, the “f”-shaped openings that are made. to favor its acoustics, an inquisitive touch to project a metaphor on his body as an instrument that makes carnal desire play.

One of the most influential photographers of the 20th century along with other photographers of his time such as: Henri Cartier-Bresson, Ansel Adams, Edward Weston, Robert Capa, Elliott Erwitt, Walter Evans, Alfred Stieglitz, Diane Arbus, Eve Arnold, Cindy Sherman, Herb Ritts, Irving Penn, Robert Mapplethorpe, Richard Avedon, Steve McCurry, among many others.