

Man Ray United States, 1890-1976
board in rosewood and mahogany
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 1920’s, 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 1920’s 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 Erst 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, FranceArtist studio
Exhibitions
American Center of Paris (1966)
Salute to Man Ray, American Center, Paris (1967)
Les objets de mon affection, Galerie de l’Europe (1968)
Man Ray, Museum Boymans van Beuningen, Rotterdam, The Netherlands (1971) (exhibition catalog)
Travelling to:
Musée National d’Art Moderne, Paris
Louisiana Museum, Humblebaek, Danemark (1971- 1972)
Museum of Modern Art, Humlebæk, 1972, no. 147, illustration of another example from the edition p. 73
Perpetual Motif: The Art of Man Ray, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington D.C. (1988)
Travelling to:
Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
Menil Collection, Houston
Philadelphia Museum of Art (1988-1990)
Duchamp, Man Ray, Picabia. Tate Modern, London (2008)
Travelling to: Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, Barcelona (2008)
Man Ray: Paintings, Photos & Objects, Maruani & Noirhomme Gallery, Knokke (2012)
Man Ray, Kunstforum Wien, Autriche (2018)FROM MAN RAY TO MARIEN: An Idea of Surrealism, MARUANI MERCIER, Brussels (2021)
Literature
Arturo Schwarz, Man Ray, The Rigour of Imagination, London, 1977, no. 327, illustration of another example from the edition p. 217
Jean-Hubert Martin, Rosalind Krauss & Brigitte Hermann, Man Ray; Objets de mon affection, Sculptures et
Objets, Catalogue raisonné, Paris, 1983Man Ray & Sherrie Levine: A Dialogue through Objects, Images & Ideas, JMM Gallery