Man Ray | "it is the name that is for sale"

Man Ray

Les Invendables: Quarante ouevres invendable de Man Ray. Vence, France: Galerie Alphonse Chave, 4 April 1969

8vo (270 x 225mm). Signed "Man Ray" and numbered "9" in pencil to colophon, leaves partially unopened, 8 tipped-in color plates, 5 engravings printed in black; few spots to title page. Original illustrated laid paper with original Japanese vellum wrappers; scattered foxing. [With:] A silver gelatin print (150 x 105 mm) mounted to black sandpaper, signed "Man Ray" in ink and numbered "9/50" in ink atop semi-translucent sticker, with red trademark stamp to verso.

First edition, number 9 out of 50 copies, with a signed gelatin silver print.

Published to coincide with the exhibition Les Invendables at the Galerie Alphonse Chave in Vence, France, in 1969, this exhibition catalogue contains illustrations such as Metropolis, 1913; Déjeuner sur l'herbe, 1914; Antipolis (les jumelles), 1939; Incubator, 1943; Le Pont dix, 1953; Observatoire, 1914; and Nature morte, 1914. The accompanying untitled silver gelatin print depicts a close-up shot of ambiguous lunar-like surface illuminated from the lower corner.

Teasing artists and readers alike in the preface, Man Ray writes: "Les Invendables. Why? Because it is the name that is for sale. Without the signature the painting is worthless. You have to take both."

REFERENCES

Janus 1973, p. 13; Janus 1981, p. 159