Beschreibung:

MAN RAY (1890-1976). A complete set of original gelatin silver prints for his erotic series 1929 . Printed c.1960s-early 1970s.
MAN RAY (1890-1976). A complete set of original gelatin silver prints for his erotic series 1929 . Printed c.1960s-early 1970s. Four original gelatin silver prints, each c.170x c.120mm, each inscribed by Man Ray on the verso ‘à Luciano, Man Ray’ in black ink, mounted along the top edge onto grey card in a quarto volume of contemporary brown leather, the front cover stamped in gilt ‘1929’. Provenance : Man Ray (presentation inscriptions to:) – Luciano Anselmino (art dealer). A VERY RARE COMPLETE SET OF ORIGINAL PHOTOGRAPHS FOR MAN RAY’S NOTORIOUS EROTIC BOOK , each print inscribed on the verso to Luciano Anselmino, Man Ray’s primary dealer in later life. ARTNET APPARENTLY RECORDS NO OTHER ORIGINAL PRINTS OF THIS WORK AT AUCTION. 1929 , the book for which this series was shot, features only photo-mechanical reproductions. It is an extraordinarily audacious work, offering a most revealing side of Man Ray, and attesting to the nascent surrealist movement's preoccupation with sex. 1929 was published at the instigation of Péret and Aragon, with all contributors named, in order to raise funds to support Variétes and its publisher Edouard Mesens, later the doyen of London's Surrealists. Aragon proposed the idea to Man Ray, showing him a sample of the erotic poetry for which he wanted illustrations; Man Ray responded with these photographs of himself at play with Kiki de Montparnasse. Dutel 1986; The Photobook , vol. II, p.138; Pia Enfer , 937.