MAN RAY. - Lot 199

MAN RAY. Juliet and Man. Text by Germano Celant. Paris, Nathan, “Carré Photo” series, [1994]. Large quarto, publisher’s hardcover with illustrated dust jacket. A French edition devoted to a long-overlooked body of work from Man Ray’s (1890–1976) photographic oeuvre, bringing together portraits and staged photographs created with his last partner and wife, Juliet Browner Man Ray. The book reveals a more intimate aspect of the Surrealist master’s creative process. The photographs, taken between the 1940s and 1970s, depict the couple as a veritable poetic laboratory where the body, the object, and the setting become elements of a dreamlike universe. The staged compositions alternate with more understated portraits, bearing witness to the artistic and emotional bond that united Man Ray and Juliet. The essay by Germano Celant, art historian and theorist of Arte Povera, situates these images within the context of Man Ray’s entire body of work and sheds light on their autobiographical, psychological, and surrealist dimensions. Published in the excellent Carré Photo collection by Nathan, this volume serves as an accessible reference on a lesser-studied period of the photographer’s career. Condition: a very fine copy. Hardcover and dust jacket in excellent condition, with no notable flaws. Interior perfectly fresh.