Lot 16
  • 16

Man Ray

Estimate
18,000 - 25,000 EUR
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Description

  • Man Ray
  • Jacqueline Lamba à la lanterne, ca. 1934
  • Silver print.
  • 12.5 by 13.2 cm, 4 7/8 by 5 1/8 in.
Jacqueline Lamba, 1931
Silver gelatin print
5h x 5 1/4w inches

Estimate: €25,000 - 35,000

Exhibited

Madrid, Paris & Berlin, 2007-10, p. 148
Tokyo, 2010, no. 159
Londres, 2013, p. 111

Literature

Man Ray Portraits, 2010, p. 171 (variante)
Ottinger, 2013, p. 166 (autre cadrage)

Condition

This print is in very good general condition. With a tiny bump at the right edge and a very light crease near the upper left corner and near the upper right corner both visible in raking light only.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Catalogue Note

Here is Man Ray … here is the man with the magic lantern head.

André Breton

André Breton’s 1934 meeting with the “scandalously beautiful” Jacqueline Lamba, a 24-year-old artist, was to be a seminal moment in the poet’s life. Full of admiration for Breton’s poetry, Jacqueline had orchestrated the meeting at the Café Cyrano in Paris on 29 May 1934. However, she had not imagined that Breton, a firm believer in the significance of encounters, chance or otherwise, would conclude a few days later that their meeting had been predicted by his 1923 poem Tournesol (Sunflower), and from that moment she became his muse and inspiration, notably for his 1937 work dedicated to her, L’Amour fou (Mad Love). When the couple were married less than three months later, Alberto Giacometti and Paul Eluard acted as their witnesses, and Man Ray, naturally, was the wedding photographer.

The present photograph, a rare print, possibly unique (a contact print from the same negative, as well as a variant contact print, are owned by the Centre Pompidou, Paris), is typical of Man Ray’s innovative and assertive approach to portraiture at the height of his career. The electric lantern Jacqueline holds in her left hand is at once an intriguing Surrealist object and source of light for the photographer, naturally drawing the viewer’s attention. Importantly, Man Ray has used an additional, invisible, light source above Jacqueline, bestowing her with a radiant aura that seemingly electrifies her blonde hair.

Fig. 1: Man Ray, Space Writings, circa 1938, silver print