Created in 1924, Le Violon d'Ingres is one of Man Ray's most celebrated photographs. The work features his muse Kiki de Montparnasse with f-shaped violin holes added to her back, transforming her body into a musical instrument. The photograph first appeared as the front cover for the final issue of André Breton's Littérature in 1924, a publication that marked the emergence of Surrealism. Man Ray created the original through an innovative technique, combining a traditional photograph with his rayograph method – burning the f-holes directly onto light-sensitive paper before exposing Kiki's portrait over them.
Dimensions: 24 x 19 Inches
Medium: Archival pigment print on 410gsm Somerset Tub Sized Radiant White paper with a matte varnish seal and a bespoke debossed archive stamp.
Provenance: Artist signature embossed on lower right. Numbered on lower left. Comes with original certificate of authenticity from the publisher.
Edition: Limited Edition of 126
Year: 2026
Condition: Excellent
ARTIST BIO
Man Ray was a key figure of Dada and Surrealism, one of the few Americans associated with either movement. Born Emmanuel Radnitzky, the artist adopted his pseudonym in 1909 and—while he also worked across painting, sculpture, video, and printmaking—became renowned for his striking, sensual black-and-white photographs. A number of his portraits—such as Larmes (Tears) (ca. 1932), which features a woman “crying” glass bead tears, and his pictures of Kiki de Montparnasse—are icons of 20th-century art. Man Ray also embraced technical experimentation; he used solarization and made Rayographs (an eponym for his photograms) as he pushed the boundaries of avant-garde photography. At auction, his work has sold for seven figures, and his paintings have fetched particularly high prices. Man Ray is represented in the collections of such institutions as the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
