10 works, The Art Of The Nude, MAN RAY's Kiki of Montparnasse, with footnotes #217

MAN RAY (1890-1976)

Portrait de Kiki, c. 1923

Oil on canvas

24 1/8 x 18 in. (61.3 x 45.6 cm.)

Private collection

Sold for USD 1,623,000 in May 2023

"I paint what cannot be photographed and I photograph what I do not wish to paint. " Man Ray

Although celebrated for his photographic practice, it was in fact painting that first engaged Man Ray, né Emmanuel Radnitsky, a visionary par excellence. 

Soon after Man Ray arrived in Paris, in July of 1921, he met Kiki, then about twenty years of age. Kiki de Montparnasse (1901–1953) over that decade was a singer (recorded and published), a successful self-taught artist, an author, and a celebrated artists' model. She was, in the 1920s, the queen of the Paris left bank, at least to the avant-garde. Born Alice Prin, she has been made legend through the photographs Man Ray made of her, such as the iconic Le Violon d'Ingres, 1924 (see below), and Noire et blanche, 1925–1926 (see below). He also made a handful of Rayographs of her, indeed they made some together in their hotel room on the Rue Delambre, in the early months of 1922. More on Man Ray and Kiki

MAN RAY (1890-1976)

Untitled (Solarized Nude, Paris), c. 1929

Gelatin silver print

11 1/4 x 8 7/8 in. (28.5 x 22.5 cm.)

Private collection

Sold for USD 630,000 in May 2023

The present dramatic subject – the back of a voluptuous half-figure nude, her head turned to her left – calls to mind Man Ray’s celebrated Violon d’Ingres of 1924 (see below). Solarized Nude, notwithstanding its own distinct characteristics, might justifiably be considered a deliberate and playful echo of the Violon d’Ingres, itself a willful echo of Ingres’s celebrated odalisque. Man Ray’s luminous nude from 1929 takes its place among the emblematic nudes that constitute such an important aspect of the artist’s oeuvre. As his friend Roland Penrose reminds us, when reflecting on the media and themes that inspired Man Ray, ‘…the sources most rich in poetic stimulus, direct or indirect, were the women he loved. …the grace, purity and compelling magic of the female presence is made vivid and permanent by his skill.’ (Man Ray, London, 1971, p. 99) His muses were central to his creativity. More on this photograph

Man Ray

Le Violon d'Ingres, c. 1924, printed 1950s

Gelatin silver print

5 ¾ x 4 ¼ in. 14.6 x 10.8 cm. 5 ¾ x 4 3/8 in. 14.6 x 11.1 cm.

Private collection

The photograph was inspired by Valpinçon Bather (1808), a painting by the French neoclassical painter Jean-Auguste- Dominique Ingres. Its title came from a popular French expression, which means “a hobby,” in reference to the fact that Ingres used to play violin as a pastime when he wasn't painting. More on this photograph

Man Ray

Noire Et Blanche, 1926

Gelatin silver print

26 x 31 inches

Private collection

Estimate for  €1,000,000-1,500,000 in April 2017

Noire et Blanche, was first published in the Parisian edition of Vogue in May 1926. This quiet, elegant and dreamy study naturally appealed to Jacques Doucet, the great French fashion icon and designer. His own vision, which combined the ancient and primitive arts with his graceful and modern taste, is complimented by Man Ray’s vision of a surreal twist of tonality. More on this photograph

Ray, Man

At the Hour of the Observatory, the Lovers, kiki of montparnasse, c. 1932

Duotone Photo Litho,

7.6x6.1"

Private collection

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 lips in the picture were an inspiration for the logo of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and many other pop culture iconic images. The chessboard appears in many of the artist’s works—Duchamp, Picabia and Man Ray all loved playing chess. 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. More on this photograph

MAN RAY (1890-1976)

Kiki, 1922

Sheet-fed gravure

10 1/4" x 8 1/8"

Private collection

MAN RAY (1890-1976)

 Kiki De Montparnasse, c.1922

Photogravure/Heliogravure.

7.5 x 6 inches

Private collection

MAN RAY (1890-1976)

 Kiki De Montparnasse, c.1922

Photogravure/Heliogravure.

7.5 x 6 inches

Private collection

Kiki, and often known as Kiki de Montparnasse, was a French artist's model, literary muse, nightclub singer, actress, memoirist, and painter. She flourished in, and helped define, the liberated culture of Paris in the 1920s.

An illegitimate child, she was raised in abject poverty by her grandmother. At age twelve, she was sent to live with her mother in Paris in order to find work. She first worked in shops and bakeries, but by the age of fourteen, she was posing nude for sculptors, which created discord with her mother.

Adopting a single name, "Kiki", she became a fixture in the Montparnasse social scene and a popular artist's model, posing for dozens of artists. Her companion for most of the 1920s was Man Ray, who made hundreds of portraits of her. She can be considered his muse at this time. 

A painter in her own right, in 1927 Prin had a sold-out exhibition of her paintings at the Galerie au Sacre du Printemps in Paris. Her drawings and paintings comprise portraits, self-portraits, social activities, fanciful animals, and dreamy landscapes composed in a light, slightly uneven, expressionist style that is a reflection of her easy-going manner and boundless optimism. More on Kiki of Montparnasse

Man Ray (American, 1890–1976)

Kiki with Pearl Bracelet, c. 1921

Gelatin silver print, printed c. 1921

11.5 x 8.5 in. (29.2 x 21.6 cm.)

Private collection

MAN RAY (1890-1976)

Kiki de Montparnasse in Man Ray's Voisin C7 Automobile

Gelatin silver print

8 3/8 × 11 1/16 in. (21.27 × 28.1 cm)

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

This portrait of Kiki de Montparnasse (1901–1953) in the passenger seat of Man Ray’s Voisin C7 dates to the summer of 1926, when the American artist was making his experimental film Emak Bakia, in which Kiki was the undeniable star. Emak Bakia was filmed at the summer villa of Arthur and Rose Wheeler near Biarritz, and this photograph may have been taken on the road trip from Paris to the fashionable sea resort. This shared private moment, when Man Ray had stopped by the side of the country road to take Kiki’s portrait, reflects the personal happiness of the early years of their romance, as well as their shared excitement about the movie they were about to make together. More on this photograph

Man Ray (born Emmanuel Radnitzky; August 27, 1890 – November 18, 1976) was an American visual artist who spent most of his career in France. He was a significant contributor to the Dada and Surrealist movements, although his ties to each were informal. He produced major works in a variety of media but considered himself a painter above all. He was best known for his photography, and he was a renowned fashion and portrait photographer. Man Ray is also noted for his work with photograms, which he called "rayographs" in reference to himself. More on Man Ray

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