MAN RAY.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

La photographie n'est pas l'art. First and only edition, presentation copy from the photographer, inscribed on the title page to the Surrealist writer and muse Lise Deharme, "A mon amie Lise, affectueusement Man Ray Juin 1937". Though a successful writer in her own right, collaborating with Joan Miró and Claude Cahun among others, Deharme is best remembered as a Surrealist muse, enchanting André Breton (who contributed the foreword) and posing as the Queen of Spades for Man Ray's image, Lise Deharme en dame de pique. Described as Man Ray's "photographic swansong", this ironically titled little publication marked the turning point in the artist's life when he shifted his focus from photography to painting (Parr & Badger). It is thought that during production the plate for one of the images, "Plein-air artistique", was damaged and for many copies a reprint on a different paper stock was included. This copy has all 12 prints on the matching original paper stock. The die-cut outer wrapper was designed to function as a rudimentary frame for ease of viewing the images, cropped to the edge as intended.

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