Man Ray, Chess Set (Objet de mon affection), 1920-1962

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32 pieces: 16 in very dark bronze 16 in gilded bronze;
board in rosewood and mahogany

99.5 x 57 x 9.5 cm
39 2/16 x 22 7/16 x 3 11/16 in

The chess board is presented on a table made by the artist in collaboration with Jean-Michel Frank in the 1920s, with a hand-engraved text on the frame of the table;...

The chess board is presented on a table made by the artist in collaboration with Jean-Michel Frank in the 1920s, with a hand-engraved text on the frame of the table; at the end of the table are two chests lined with red velvet which serve to store pieces. Man Ray, like Marcel Duchamp, has always been fascinated by chess. He made several projects for the piece in the 1920s and finally succeeded in making the board in 1962. Inscribed “Man Ray” and numbered (on the white king); the chess board perimeter is inlaid with the artist’s poem in French, specially composed by Man Ray in 1962 for this edition and inlaid with his facsimile handwriting.

The first study of 1920 was used by Marcel Duchamp, Gerard Richter, Max Ernst and several other important members of the Dada movement. This work will be shown at the fair together with a collection of vintage chess gelatin silver prints and designs for chess pieces by Man Ray. There are also 5 copies fired in sterling silver.

Inscription on the chess board:
“le Roi est à moi
la Reine est la Tienne
la Tour Fait un four
le Fou est comme vous
le Cavalier déraille
le Pion fait l’espion
comme toute canaille
Fait de toutes pièces”

Provenance

Marion Meyer Collection, France

Exhibitions

Man Ray: Paintings, Photos & Objects, Knokke, 3 August - 16 September 2012 (another example exhibited).
From Man Ray to Marien: An Idea of Surrealism, MARUANI MERCIER, Brussels, 21 January - 20 March 2021 (another example exhibited).

Literature

Man Ray & Marcel Zerbib, Objets de mon affection, Galerie de l'Europe, Paris, 1968 (another example illustrated).

Man Ray (exhibition catalogue), Museum Boymans-Van Beuningen, Rotterdam; Musée National d'Art Moderne, Paris & The Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebæk, 1972, no. 147, p. 73 (another example illustrated).

Arturo Schwarz, Man Ray, The Rigour of Imagination, London, 1977, no. 327, p. 217 (another example illustrated).

Jean-Hubert Martin, Rosalind Krauss & Brigitte Hermann, Man Ray: Objets de mon affection, Sculptures et Objets, Catalogue raisonné, Paris, 1983, p. 161 (another example illustrated).

From Man Ray to Marien: An Idea of Surrealism, MARUANI MERCIER, Brussels, 2021, n.p. (another example illustrated).

Man Ray United States, 1890-1976

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Man Ray United States, 1890-1976

Further images

Provenance

Exhibitions

Literature