Artist
Man Ray (Emmanuel Radnitzky) (American, 1890–1976)American, 1890–1976
CultureAmerican
Titles
- Mathematical Object
Date1936, printed 1938
PlaceParis, France
MediumGelatin silver print
DimensionsImage: 9 1/8 × 11 3/4 in. (23.2 × 29.8 cm)
Sheet: 9 1/8 × 11 3/4 in. (23.2 × 29.8 cm)
Mount: 20 × 14 15/16 in. (50.8 × 37.9 cm)
Sheet: 9 1/8 × 11 3/4 in. (23.2 × 29.8 cm)
Mount: 20 × 14 15/16 in. (50.8 × 37.9 cm)
Credit LineThe Allan Chasanoff Photographic Collection
Object number91.866
Not on view
Explore Further
Department
PhotographySpecial Collections
Object Type
The
laws of mathematics would seem an unlikely subject for a Surrealist, yet Man
Ray turned rigid codification into unfettered creativity. In his 1963
autobiography, Ray recalled that it was the Surrealist artist Max Ernst who
first brought to his attention a group of three-dimensional models illustrating
mathematical equations at the Institute Henri Poincaré in Paris.
Ray photographed the models between 1934 and
1936, and published a dozen of the resulting images in a 1936 issue of the
French artistic and literary journal Cahiers
d’art, which was devoted to the Surrealist object.
ProvenancePurchased by the donor from Robet Miller Gallery
Exhibition History"Tradition and the Unpredictable: The Allan Chasanoff Photographic Collection," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Upper Jones and Wiess Galleries; January 16-March 27, 1994.
"Utopia/ Dystopia: Construction and Destruction in Photography and Collage," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 11 March - 10 June, 2012.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
verso bottom right in pencil " 36.1591 B "
verso in pencil below inscription " Ray "
verso bottom right a stamp " Man Ray-8 Rue Du Val-De-Grace Paris 5 France Danton 92-25 "
verso of mount bottom right a stamp " Photograph by Man Ray "
verso of mount bottom right a stamp " Photograph by Man Ray "
Cataloguing data may change with further research.
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