Nude Man Ray Picture Could Become Most Expensive Image Sold At Auction
Le Violon d’Ingres, Man Ray’s iconic photograph taken in 1924 of a nude woman’s back overlaid with a violin’s f-holes, will head to auction in May where it could rake in between US$5 million and US$7 million.
If the image does reach that price tag at auctioneer Christie’s, it would unequivocally become the most expensive picture to ever go under the hammer.
According to ARTnews, the print, which stars the photographer’s muse Kiki de Montparnasse, is a rare piece that’s said to be an original photographic copy.
Its inherent value lies in the fact that the picture was captured during the time its first corresponding negative was produced, making it highly acclaimed by photography experts worldwide.
“As a photographic work, it is unprecedented in the marketplace. We are proud to handle it,” said Darius Himes, Christie’s International Photographs Specialist.
Currently, the most expensive auctioned Man Ray photograph is the Noire et Blanche (1926), which fetched US$3 million in 2017.
The world auction record is held by Andreas Gursky’s 1999 landscape image, Rhein III, which sold in 2011 for US$4.3 million.
Man Ray’s photograph will be listed as part of offerings from art collectors Rosalind Gersten Jacobs and Melvin Jacobs, who had purchased the image in question directly from Man Ray in 1962.
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[via ARTnews, cover image via Christie’s]
