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Man Ray Work Could Become Most Expensive Photograph Ever Sold at Auction in ‘Unprecedented’ Sale
ARTnews ^ | February 15, 2022 | Angelica Villa

Posted on 02/16/2022 1:44:15 PM PST by nickcarraway

This May, Man Ray’s Le Violon d’Ingres (1924), a famed photograph of a nude woman’s back that’s overlaid with a violin’s f-holes, is headed to auction, where it is expected to fetch between $5 million and $7 million. If it does sell for within that range, it will become the most expensive photograph ever sold at auction.

This print of the iconic Man Ray photograph, which depicts his muse Kiki de Montparnasse, is a rare one in that it is considered an original photographic copy. It was made around the time its corresponding negative was first produced, making it valuable in the eyes of photography experts.

The current record for a photograph by Man Ray was set in 2017, when an original edition of Noire et Blanche (1926) sold for $3 million during a Christie’s sale in Paris. The current auction record for a photograph is held by Andreas Gursky, whose 1999 landscape Rhein II sold at Christie’s in 2011 for $4.3 million.

Related Articles Three part painting in gold frame Monumental Francis Bacon Triptych Could Fetch $75 M. at Christie's Hauser & Wirth Names Christie's Director Elaine Kwok as Managing Partner in Asia “As a photographic work, it is unprecedented in the marketplace,” said Darius Himes, Christie’s international photographs specialist in a statement. “We are proud to handle it.”

The photograph is the top lot to be offered from the holdings of New York collectors Rosalind Gersten Jacobs and Melvin Jacobs, fashion retailers who had deep ties to Surrealist circles. The Jacobs bought Le Violon d’Ingres directly from Man Ray in 1962, and have held on to it after since. The work will be offered in a live single-owner sale dedicated to the Jacobs’ Surrealist art collection at Christie’s in New York.

Rosalind, a longtime Macy’s executive, died in 2019 at the age of 94. The couple’s daughter and the executor of their estate, Peggy Jacobs Bader, said in a statement that the works being sold reflect her parents’ “playfulness and, at times, their mischievousness.”

Highlights from the collection, which include works by Vija Celmins, René Magritte, and William N. Copley, will go on tour to London, Paris, and Hong Kong before returning to their final location in New York, where they will be on view at Christie’s Rockefeller center space before being auctioned in May.

Man Ray works have performed well at auction as of late, even amid controversy over their sales. In 2021, a trove of more than 200 objects by Man Ray and others artists in his circle was sold from the estate of his late assistant, Lucien Triellard. Held at Christie’s in Paris, the sale made a total of $7.1 million, despite claims from the Man Ray Trust that the items in the sale were obtained illegally—allegations that the auction house denied.


TOPICS: Arts/Photography; Business/Economy; History
KEYWORDS: auction; fholes; manray; photography
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To: rlmorel; Steely Tom
Dolby is a far left moonbat dork

Are you sure you know who you are talking about? I saw him talk. He doesn't seem like he has much interest outside of music, technology, computer games. I even looked online and I can't find any evidence of politics.

21 posted on 02/16/2022 2:15:43 PM PST by nickcarraway
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To: atc23

Creepy.


22 posted on 02/16/2022 2:16:33 PM PST by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway

The art world is the biggest money laundering operation in existence. Rich people are basically using artwork as instruments of debt and transactional payments.


23 posted on 02/16/2022 2:20:04 PM PST by WMarshal ("No war for communism"I doubt they're smart enough to make the connection)
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To: nickcarraway

Baby got back


24 posted on 02/16/2022 2:21:37 PM PST by AppyPappy (Biden told Al Roker "America is back". Unfortunately, he meant back to the 1970's)
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To: atc23

In the book “Most Evil” the author (son of the suspect your are talking about) goes into some detail about his father being good friends with Man Ray and how they were both sexual sadist.


25 posted on 02/16/2022 2:32:57 PM PST by TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig (To you all, my loyal spell checkers....nothing but prospect and admiral nation.)
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To: nickcarraway

That violin has a crack in it.


26 posted on 02/16/2022 2:39:52 PM PST by Steve_Seattle
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To: Mark

A crack artist.


27 posted on 02/16/2022 2:40:06 PM PST by Puppage (You may disagree with what I have to say, but I shall defend to your death my right to says it.)
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To: nickcarraway

The pic is very nice but would be better without the headdress and violin holes. It shows the female form very exquisitely but not obscenely. The headdress and violin holes take away from the beauty of the lady. I like it.

It is not worth that kind of money. Not even near that type of money.


28 posted on 02/16/2022 2:44:40 PM PST by cpdiii (CANE CUTTER-DECKHAND-ROUGHNECK-OILFIELD CONSULTANT-GEOLOGIST-PILOT-PHARMACIST )
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To: cpdiii

In the world of string players, those holes are known as “f-holes.” I’m not joking.


29 posted on 02/16/2022 2:46:08 PM PST by Publius
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To: nickcarraway

30 posted on 02/16/2022 2:57:47 PM PST by DoodleBob (Gravity's waiting period is about 9.8 m/s^2)
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To: nickcarraway

IIRC he’s believed to have been involved in the murder of the Black Dahlia.


31 posted on 02/16/2022 3:06:30 PM PST by Gay State Conservative (Covid Is All About Mail In Balloting)
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To: WMarshal

https://www.artandobject.com/news/how-money-laundering-works-art-world


32 posted on 02/16/2022 3:28:59 PM PST by algore
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To: nickcarraway

Those are the f holes?! I think I’ve been doing something incorrectly.


33 posted on 02/16/2022 4:05:12 PM PST by coloradan (They're not the mainstream media, they're the gaslight media. It's what they do. )
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To: nickcarraway
LOL, yes...I kind of figured he was years ago, when he talked about "Ronnie Raygun" in one of his songs as a threat to humanity...but I kind of let that pass. Then I read an interview, and was pretty disgusted. And disappointed. I would not have a problem if he kept it to himself. I can't find anything, but I know for a FACT he suffers from Trump Derangement Syndrome. The only thing I did find was this, but only because I can't find his interview:

Thomas Dolby@ThomasDolby
Hey, Trump voters. Are you #TiredOfWinning yet?
2:31 PM · Nov 16, 2019·Twitter Web Client

I did see another article by a conservative professional musician who was lamenting the fact that so many of his associates seem to be deranged Leftists, and he wrote this:

"...I began to realize as well that almost all of my musical heroes and muses were infected with this new brand of leftism/socialism/communism/hatred of the land/culture that I loved, and which had given me countless opportunities to thrive. Peter Murphy, Thomas Dolby, Depeche Mode, Gary Numan and especially Devo, (among MANY others) began to write albums devoted to hating one man, and then tooling on an entire way of American life. I started to feel like I was in Invasion of the Bodysnatchers, and was one of the last free-thinking humans left alive..."

I am pretty sure that one interview I read was not a bad day, given what this guy wrote, I am pretty sure he is one of those people...

Not as bad as Roger Waters, but...pretty bad. It did ruin his music a bit for me, but not as bad as Roger Waters which made me swear off Pink Floyd. (I saw Roger Waters some years ago in concert (back in 2004, I believe) and it was 2-3 hours of multimedia America Hate...I was stupid, I had no idea.

I had gone with about ten people, and I didn't want to ruin it for them, so I just left my seat and walked around so I didn't have to see it.

34 posted on 02/16/2022 4:28:09 PM PST by rlmorel (The concept of a "cashless society" is simply a vector for the exercise of tyranny.)
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To: Publius

Sadly, it seems a high percentage of FR replies over that last few years are people attempting to be witty or funny. It gets old, frankly.

To your point, I always thought Man Ray should have put the f holes a little lower on the back. Just my eye, I suppose. That placement is about right for a violin.


35 posted on 02/16/2022 5:36:02 PM PST by brewer1516
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To: nickcarraway
Man Ray also designed a very cool chess board set...


36 posted on 08/01/2022 1:54:13 PM PDT by avenir (Information overload = Pattern recognition)
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To: avenir

Outstanding.


37 posted on 08/01/2022 2:01:17 PM PDT by Jet Jaguar
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