Man Ray’s Le Violon d’Ingres, one of the most famous images of Surrealism, sold for US$12.4 million at Christie’s New York on Saturday – setting a record as the most expensive photograph ever to be sold at auction.
In the black-and-white image, the American surrealist artist transforms a seated nude woman into a violin by overlaying two f-holes on the picture of her back.
While the famed image has been reproduced countless times, the photograph offered for sale this time is considered an original photographic copy, making it an extremely rare and valuable work that carried a low estimate of US$5 million – a price that was expected to make history as the costliest photograph.
In the end, it was hammered down at US$10.5 million and sold for US$12.4 million after fees, three times higher than the previous record, held by German photographer Andreas Gursky‘s Rhein II, which sold for US$4.3 million in 2011 at Christie’s New York.
Lot 615 | Man Ray | Le Violon d'Ingres, Unique gelatin silver print, flush-mounted on board
Created in 1924
48.5 x 37.5 cm
Provenance:
- Acquired from the artist by the late owners, 1962.
Estimate: US$5,000,000 – 7,000,000
Hammer Price: US$10,500,000
Sold: US$12,412,500
Man Ray, born Emmanuel Radnitzky in 1890 in Philadelphia, was a prominent representative of avant-garde photography in the 20th century and a significant contributor to the Dada and Surrealist movements. Although the artist produced major works in a variety of media, he considered himself a painter above all.
The artist’s artistic talent came out at a young age. He was keen on art since he was young and educated himself with regular visits to art museums. After finishing high school in 1908, he turned down a scholarship to study architecture and decided to follow his passion for art.
In the early period of Ray’s career, his works were mostly inspired by Cubism and Expressionism. After meeting Marcel Duchamp in 1915, the artist abandoned conventional painting and became involved with Dada alongside Duchamp. In the 1920s, Ray moved to Paris and continued to be an avant-garde artist. As an influential member of the Dada and Surrealist circles, he built friendships with masters such as Salvador Dali, René Magritte and Alexander Calder.
In Paris, the artist experimented with photography and made a name for himself as a photographic innovator. He invented the technique known as photogram, also called Rayographs, in reference to himself – a way to create images without a camera but to place objects directly onto photographic paper and expose them to light.
Dali (left) and Ray (right) are both Surrealist art masters
Featured in the photo is the famous French model, Alice Prin
Created in 1924, the photo features Man Ray’s muse and then lover – Alice Prin, nicknamed the Queen of Montparnasse and often known as Kiki de Montparnasse. Throughout the 1920s, she played muse to nearly all the leading male avant-garde artists, including the Japanese artist Tsuguharu Foujita, who created the celebrated Reclining Nude (the Nude Portrait of Kiki) for her.
In this work, Ray uses a combination of techniques in various iterations – including the Rayograph technique, hand-painting, multiple exposures and the re-photographing of existing negatives and prints – to add the f-shaped sound-holes of a violin to Alice’s back, likening her hourglass-shaped body to that of the instrument.
The photograph was inspired by a renowned painting by the French neoclassical painter Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Baigneuse de Valpinçon, where Kiki sits in the same pose as Ingres’ model for that composition.
The title of the work involves a wordplay. The phrase 'Violon d'Ingres' comes from a French idiomatic expression, which means hobby, in reference to Ingres’ desire to be recognized not solely as a painter, but also an accomplished violinist, his passionate hobby. Perhaps the reason why Ray named the photo of his mistress after it was that he was hinting Alice was his 'hobby'.
Baigneuse de Valpinçon, now held in Musée du Louvre
Rosalind Gersten & Melvin Jacobs
Ray later produced a few copies of the image, and they are now in the collection of prestigious art institutions, namely the Centre Pompidou in Paris, and the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. This original copy was in the artist's hand until 1962, when Rosalind Gersten Jacobs and Melvin Jacobs became its custodian.
Melvin Jacobs was the former executive of the luxury department store Saks Fifth Avenue, while Rosalind Gersten Jacobs was a fashion buyer for Macy's since the 1950s. The couple met several Surrealist artists in Paris, including Ray. When the couple died in 1993 and 2019 respectively, their daughter sold part of her inherited art collection to Christie's.
Christie's held this The Surrealist World of Rosalind Gersten Jacobs and Melvin Jacobs sale dedicated to the couple's collection. Among the 76 lots offered, 70 were sold, accumulating a 92 per cent sale rate and a total of US$420 million. The most expensive lot was Le Violon d’Ingres by Man Ray, while the second and third were both from René Magritte, a Belgian surrealist master.
Lot 628 | René Magritte | L'autre son de cloche, Oil on canvas
Created in 1951
35.6 x 46.3 cm
Provenance:
- Iolas Gallery, New York (acquired from the artist, April 1952).
- William and Noma Copley, Longpont (acquired from the above, 1957).
- Gift from the above to the late owners as a wedding present, 1957.
Estimate: US$4,000,000 - 7,000,000
Hammer Price: US$8,500,000
Sold: US$10,122,500
Lot 640 | René Magritte | Eloge de la dialectique, Gouache on paper
Created in 1948
35.6 x 44.5 cm
Provenance:
- Galerie Alexandre Iolas, Paris (acquired from the artist, November 1948).
- William and Noma Copley, Longpont (acquired from the above).
- Gift from the above to Rosalind Gersten as a birthday present, 1955.
Estimate: US$2,500,000 - 4,500,000
Hammer Price: US$3,800,000
Sold: US$4,620,000
Auction Details:
Auction House: Christie’s New York
Sale: The Surrealist World of Rosalind Gersten Jacobs and Melvin Jacobs
Date: 14 May 2022
Number of lots: 76
Sold: 70
Unsold: 6
Sale Rate: 92%
Sale Total: US$42,330,074