Impressionist & Modern Art | New York
Impressionist & Modern Art | New York
Property from a Private Collection, Brooklyn
Man Ray
Astrolabe
Lot Closed
March 11, 07:55 PM GMT
Estimate
30,000 - 50,000 USD
Lot Details
Description
Property from a Private Collection, Brooklyn
Man Ray
1890 - 1976
Astrolabe
Inscribed Man Ray, titled, inscribed It's a small world (Hang at eye level, look through glass) and numbered I/IV
Brass, copper, painted steel and magnifying glass
Height: 26 in.
66 cm
Conceived in 1957 and executed in 1964-70 in an edition of 10 plus 4 numbered artist's proofs.
Andrew Strauss and Timothy Baum of the Man Ray Expertise Committee have confirmed the authenticity of this work and that it will be included in the Catalogue of Works on Paper of Man Ray, currently in preparation.
Gary Cole, United States (acquired from the above in 1983)
A gift from the above in 1987
Arturo Schwarz, Man Ray, The Rigour of Imagination, London, 1977, illustration of the original object p. 220
Man Ray (exhibition catalogue), Musée national d'art moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris 1981, illustration of the original object p. 11
Jean-Hubert Martin, Rosalind Krauss & Brigitte Hermann, Man Ray: Objets de mon affection. Sculptures et objets catalogue raisonné, Paris, 1983, illustration of the original object p. 100
Conceived in 1957, the year in which Sputnik 1 was launched, Astrolabe celebrates artistic innovation through an exceptional work that amalgamates art with geometry, mathematics and science. Through a complex assembly of half-circles and circles, rotating elaborately around a reduction lens, Man Ray reversed the function of this astronomical instrument. Rather than measuring the exact height of the stars, his Astrolabe aims to give the viewer a misleading perspective of the room in which the spectator stands. Expertly employing optical illusion, a frequent technique of the artist, Man Ray creates a reductive vision of his own galaxy in which the logical element of his work is wholly subjective in nature.