MAN RAY (1890–1976)

The rare Man Ray image offered in the present lot shows a distortion of the sitter's face, wherein the left eye and eyebrow are elongated and stretched out. Interestingly, a variant of the image was reproduced in a Modern Photography article in 1957 written by the artist himself. The caption underneath the image reads, 'Distortion: Besides tilting enlarging easels, moving the paper, Man Ray built special distorting devices.'

This image appears in the same variant form as the above reproduction in a portrait of Man Ray in his studio taken by Carl Van Vechten in June of 1934. As of the time of this writing, the present lot is the only print of this image to be offered at auction; it was first offered at Christie's in 1989.