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Électricité

Artist Man Ray (American, 1890-1976)

Publisher La Compagnie Parisienne de Distribution d'Électricité

CultureAmerican

Date1931

MediumPhotogravure

DimensionsOverall, Image: 10 1/4 x 8 in. (26 x 20.3 cm)
Overall, Support: 14 3/4 x 10 7/8 in. (37.5 x 27.6 cm)
Overall, Mat: 24 × 20 in. (61 × 50.8 cm)

Credit LineMuseum purchase, in memory of Alice R. and Sol B. Frank, and gift of Decipher, Inc.

Object number98.30.6

Not on view

DescriptionThis is one of ten photogravures of original Rayograms; it is Edition 362/500. The portfolio was commissioned by a French electric company in order to promote the use of electricity.Each print is approximately 10 1/2 x 8 inches (26 x 20.3 cm) or the reverse, tipped to the mount. Each is contained in an individual vellum wrapper with printed title. Six page letterpress introductory text is by Pierre Bost.

Label TextMan Ray (Emmanuel Radnitsky) American (1890-1976) Électricité, from the portfolio Électricité, 1931 Photogravure Purchase, gift of Decipher, Inc., and in memory of Alice R. and Sol B. Frank 98.30.6 Just as Man Ray was influenced by his associations with DuChamp, Dadaism, Cubism, and Surrealism, so were his own artworks difficult to categorize. He made photographs, films, paintings, and found-object sculptures with interchangeable fluency and innovative skill. Within photography, his series of "Rayograms" - objects placed on photographic paper and exposed to light - and solarized portraits distinguished him as one of the medium's unique, iconoclastic talents. His most significant work was created while living in Paris in the 1920s and 1930s. In 1931, a French electric company commissioned him to create a portfolio of Rayograms promoting the use of their product. Entitled Électricité, the portfolio contained ten photogravure plates in an edition of 500. Edited By: GLY Edited Date: 09/2004 Approved By: MHM Approval Date: 09/21/2005Exhibition History"Man Ray's `Électricité,'" Alice R. and Sol B. Frank Photography Galleries, Chrysler Museum of Art, September 23, 1999-January 2, 2000. "History of Photography," Alice R. and Sol B. Frank Photography Galleries, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Va, Fall, 2001. "Photography Speaks," Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Va., Alice R. and Sol B. Frank Photo Galleries, September 4, 2004 - January 2, 2005. "Twilight Visions: Surrealism, Photography, and Paris," The Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville, TN, September 10, 2009 - January 3, 2010; International Center of Photography, New York, NY, January 29 - May 9, 2010; the Telfair Museum of Art, Savannah, GA, June 10 - October 10, 2010.Published ReferencesTheresa Lichtenstein, _Twilight Visions: Surrealism and Paris_, exh. cat., (Berkley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2009), 183.