MAN RAY (1890-1976)

The collection stamp on the back of this print indicates that it was at one time most likely in the collection of Marcel Natkin who wrote several books on the art and technique of photography in the 1930s. He included this image in a chapter titled "'Stylised Nudity' Man Ray" in his 1937 book, Photography of the Nude. This print is identical in size, tonality and texture to the print, currently in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, that belonged to James Thrall Soby and was reproduced in Man Ray's monograph published by Soby in 1934. Apparently these two prints were made at the same time on the same paper. The MoMA print, however, is mounted on board with a label on the verso dating the image to 1927.