Man Ray

hinged to a modern mount, framed, Buhl Collection and Guggenheim Museum exhibition labels on the reverse, 1924

The photographer to André Breton

By descent to Aube Elléouët, Breton's daughter

Galerie 1900/2000, Paris, 2001

Michael Senft, New York, 2001

New York, Guggenheim Museum, Speaking with Hands: Photographs from The Buhl Collection, June - September 2004, and 4 other international venues through 2007 (see Appendix 1)

Jennifer Blessing, Speaking with Hands: Photographs from The Buhl Collection (Guggenheim Foundation, 2004), pp. 92 and 241 (this print)

La Révolution Surréaliste, No. 1, December 1924, p. 12

Rosalind Kraus and Jane Livingston, L'Amour Fou: Photography and Surrealism (Corcoran Gallery of Art, 1985), fig. 117, p. 130

Jean-Hubert Martin, Man Ray: Photographs (Thames and Hudson, 1982), p. 150

This photograph is on heavy double-weight paper with a matte surface. It is in near excellent condition. Some very minor surface soiling is visible in the upper left quadrant, adjacent to the chair's back, and in the upper right corner. There is age-appropriate silvering in the dark areas. There is some inconsequential wear on the edges. None of these images detract in a measurable way from the overwhelmingly fine appearance of this image.
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.
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This photograph was illustrated in the inaugural issue of the pioneering surrealist journal, La Révolution Surréaliste, published by André Breton in December 1924.  The photograph, with a slightly different cropping, appears on page 12 of the journal, at the tail end of a texte surréaliste by George Malkine that describes ‘une main et son avant-bras.’  Also on page 12 are a poem by Paul Eluard and text by Louis Aragon.

This photograph is a double exposure that combines an image of a chair, and another image of a pair of hands crossed over one another.  The identity of the sitter has been a subject of some debate.  According to the invoice Henry Buhl received when he purchased this photograph from Michael Senft in 2001, the hands are those of writer Louis Aragon, an attribution that came from André Breton via his daughter Aube Elléouët.  Jean-Hubert Martin refers to the hands as belonging to Marcel Duchamp in Man Ray Photographs(note, p. 131).  A Man Ray photograph that bears some similarity to the image offered here is an undated single-exposure view of the hands of typeface designer Charles Peignot, in a private collection. 

In the present image, Man Ray has combined two separate images, possibly in-camera, or by sandwiching two negatives during the printing process.  From a Surrealist perspective, the image is an unqualified success.  It combines within one image two things which, in reality, were not associated with one another.  The hands, crossed languidly in midair, promise the physical presence of body, a promise which Man Ray puckishly declines to fulfill.    

Sotheby’s wishes to thank Man Ray authority Steven Manford for his assistance in researching this photograph.