Man Ray

Luciano Anselmino, Galleria Il Fauno, Turin (acquired directly from the artist)
Acquired from the above by the present owner circa 1975

Man Ray, Oggetti d'affezione, Milan, 1970, no. 28, illustration of the 1932 example
Jean-Hubert Martin, Rosalind Krauss & Brigitte Hermann, Man Ray: Objets de mon affection, Sculptures et Objets, Catalogue raisonné, Paris, 1983, no. 42, illustration of the 1932 example, p. 52
Dictionnaire de l'Objet Surréaliste, ed. Didier Ottinger, Centre Pompidou, Paris, 2013, p. 201, illustration in colour of another example from the edition, p. 202
Man Ray, Human Equations, A Journey from Mathematics to Shakespeare (exhibition catalogue), The Phillips Collection, Washington D.C. & The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, 2015, illustration in colour of another example from the edition, p. 209

Assemblage. All elements are intact and stable. Metallic ball: attractive silver patina. There are handling marks in places, consistent with age and handling, and some scattered dots of verdegris. Plastic garden hose: there are some glue remnants, possibly original, and some minor wear predominately to the lower part of the element. There are a few dots of black pigment in particular to the interior of the element, possibly original. There is some dust to the crevices. Metallic rod: there are a few surface scratches with associated paint loss, not visible when elements are assembled. Wooden base: there is dust at the surface and some minor wear to the edges. This work is overall good condition.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Non-Euclidean Object is an important example of Man Ray's lifelong interest in mathematics and geometry. It is composed of a polyhedron mounted at an angle on a metal rod coiled with rubber tubing. The polyhedron composed of twenty hexagons and twelve pentagons, known to mathematicians as a truncated icosahedron, also intrigued the artists of the Renaissance, from Piero della Francesca to Leonardo da Vinci.

This object was first exhibited at the Exposition surréaliste at the Galerie Pierre Colle in Paris in 1933 under the intriguing title Brevet S.G.D.G., meaning "Patent without Governmental Guarantee," a humorous title typical of Man Ray for a clearly useless invention. Around this time, Man Ray incorporated the polyhedron in two photographic compositions alongside objects integral to Man Ray's work, including his own life mask as well as symbols of the artist and his creations.

The title Non-Euclidean Object was not coined until 1944 when a new version was made for the exhibition at the Circle Gallery in Hollywood, Objects of My Affection. Man Ray's description of the object in the accompanying album as "a variation with flat instead of curved planes" may indicate a degree
of understanding of non-Euclidean geometry, an expression coined in the nineteenth century to describe the new geometries, including spherical geometry and hyperbolic geometry, that defied Euclid's postulate that two parallel lines could neither intersect nor diverge, which is true of a flat plane.