Man Ray, Trompe l'œuf - Trompe l'œil, 1930-1963

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Bakelite, original photograph, wood, plexiglass
One of the 13 'Objects de mon Affection', as illustrated in the eponymous 1968 catalog.

Plexiglass: 60 x 50 x 8 cm | 23 9/16 x 19 10/16 x 3 2/16 in
Signed and titled
Édition of 10 + 2 AP

Trompe l’oeuf – Trompe l’oeil is a striking late assemblage from 1963 that combines a photograph of an ostrich egg with a Bakelite toilet seat. Framed on a blue background...

Trompe l’oeuf – Trompe l’oeil is a striking late assemblage from 1963 that combines a photograph of an ostrich egg with a Bakelite toilet seat. Framed on a blue background inside a clear acrylic box, the piece merges photography, painting, and the readymade, showcasing Man Ray’s signature blend of visual wit and conceptual play.

The title is a clever pun that substitutes “oeuf” (egg) for “oeil” (eye) in the traditional trompe l’oeil technique, turning a classical illusion into a surreal joke. The egg’s surface, highlighted by careful lighting and close cropping, resembles the glazed interior of a toilet bowl, creating an uncanny and humorous tension that challenges how we perceive everyday objects.

Trompe l’oeuf was included in Man Ray’s 1945 exhibition Objects of My Affection, where he presented works that transformed ordinary items into poetic and provocative art. This assemblage embodies his belief that art is driven by ideas rather than craftsmanship, using surreal wit to destabilize expectations and explore the egg as a symbol of creation and artistic invention.

Provenance

Artist Studio
Association Man Ray International, Paris, France.

Exhibitions

Man Ray, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, 1966.
Salute to Man Ray, American Center, Paris, 1968.
Man Ray, Museum Boymans van Beuningen, Rotterdam, 1971.
Man Ray, Musée national d’art Moderne, Paris, 1972.
Man Ray Assemblages, galerie Marion Meyer, édition Ligne de Mire, 1990.
Man Ray, 360 degrés de libertés, Château de Bagatelles, Bois de Boulogne, Paris, 1989.
Man Ray, Exposition Caja Duero, Salamanque, Espagne, 2009.
Man Ray, Musée des Beaux Arts de Bogota, Colombie, 2010.
Das Ohr von Giacometti, galerie Levy, Hamburg, 2011.

FROM MAN RAY TO MARIEN: An Idea of Surrealism, MARUANI MERCIER, Brussels 2021.

Literature

(selection) Man Ray, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, 1966, page 134.
Man Ray, LACMA, 1966, reproduce page 134.
Man Ray, Objet de mon affection, Edition Marcel Zerbib, Paris, 1968, reproduce.
Man Ray, Museum Boymans van Beuningen, Rotterdam, 1971, reproduce page 91.
Man Ray, Musée national d’art Moderne, Paris, 1972, reproduce page 91.
Man Ray, Janus, Edition Fratelli Fabbri, 1973, reproduce n°121.
Man Ray, Objet de mon affection, Edition Philippe Sers, Paris, 1983, reproduce page 117.
Perpetual Motif, The Art of Man Ray, National Museum of American Art Smithsonian Institution, Abbeville presspublisher, 1988, reproduce n°203.
Man Ray, Edition Gallimard, Paris, 1989, reproduce page 241.
Man Ray, 360 degrés de libertés, Château de Bagatelles, Bois de Boulogne, Paris, 1989, reproduce page 88.
Man Ray Assemblages, galerie Marion Meyer, Paris, Edition Ligne de Mire, 1990, reproduce n°37.
Man Ray, Sein Gesamtwerk, Edition Stemmle, Germany, 1990.
Man Ray, Exposition Caja Duero, Salamanque, Espagne, 2009, reproduce page 34.

Artworks

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Man Ray United States, 1890-1976

Further images

Provenance

Exhibitions

Literature