Man Ray, A l'Heure de l'observatoire: Les amoureux, 1936. 'Copyright 2001 Man Ray Trust, Paris / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn' on the bottom back. Total dimensions: 36,5 x 28,2 cm on semi-gloss paper. Fine condition. Printed Lated, 2000's. One of Man Ray's most memorable paintings, Observatory Time, is featured in this black-and-white photograph, along with a nude. It includes a depiction of the lips of his departed lover, Lee Miller, floating in the sky above the Paris Observatory. In the photograph, the nude is lying on her side on a sofa underneath the painting, with a chessboard at her feet. Observatory Time hints at what the woman might be dreaming: a nightmare or an erotic fantasy. The chessboard appears in many of the artist's works. And Man Ray considered a grid of squares, "the basis for all art... it helps you to understand the structure, to master a sense of order." He also made chess set designs and photographs of chessboards, pieces and players. One of the most influential photographers of the 20th century along with other photographers of his time such as: Ansel Adams, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Edward Weston, Robert Capa, Elliott Erwitt, Walter Evans, Philippe Halsman, Diane Arbus, Eve Arnold, Robert Doisneau, Josef Sudek, Robert Mapplethorpe, Steve McCurry, Richard Avedon, among many others.