| Noire et Blanche | |
|---|---|
| English: Black and White | |
 | |
| Artist | Man Ray |
| Completion date | May 1, 1926 |
| Medium | Gelatin silver print |
| Subject | Alice Prin |
| Dimensions | 17.1 cm× 22.5 cm(6 3/4 inches× 8 7/8 inches) |
Noire et Blanche (French for Black and White) is a black and white photograph taken by American visual artist Man Ray in 1926. It is one of his most famous photographs at the time when he was an exponent of Surrealism.
The picture was first published in the Parisian Vogue magazine, on 1 May 1926, with the title Visage de Nacre et Masque d'Ébene. [1] It would be published once again with the current title in the French magazines Variétés and Art et Décoration in 1928. [2] [3]
Man Ray had already published a similar photograph in the cover of the Dada magazine of Francis Picabia, with the title Black and White, in 1924, depicting two statuettes, one European and classical and the other African.
The title of the photograph refers both to the medium of black and white photography and the duality expressed in the dichotomy between the caucasian female model and the African black mask. The photograph depicts the famous French model Kiki de Montparnasse, posing expressionless, with her eyes closed and her head lying on a table, holding with her left hand a black African mask vertically upon its surface. The picture juxtaposes the similarities between the soft oval white face of the model, as if she were a living mask, with the shiny black mask, also with eyes closed and a serene expression. [4] It also expresses the artist's interest in African art, which had a huge influence in the artistic movements of the first decades of the 20th century. [5]
A print of the photograph was sold by $3,131,533 at 8 November 2017, at Christie's, Paris. [6]
There are prints of the photograph in several museums, including the Museum of Modern Art, in New York, and the Stedelijk Museum, in Amsterdam. [7] [8]
Man Ray was an American visual artist who spent most of his career in Paris. He was a significant contributor to the Dada and Surrealist movements, although his ties to each were informal. He produced major works in a variety of media but considered himself a painter above all. He was best known for his pioneering photography, and was a renowned fashion and portrait photographer. He is also noted for his work with photograms, which he called "rayographs" in reference to himself.
Alice Ernestine Prin, nicknamed the Queen of Montparnasse and often known as Kiki de Montparnasse, was a French model, chanteuse, memoirist and painter during the Jazz Age. She flourished in, and helped define, the liberated culture of Paris in the so-called Années folles. She became one of the most famous models of the 20th century and in the history of avant-garde art.
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Le Violon d'Ingres is a black-and-white photograph created by American visual artist Man Ray in 1924. It is one of his best-known photographs and of surrealist photography. The picture was first published in the Surrealist magazine Littérature in June 1924. It shows model Kiki de Montparnasse from the back, nude to below her waist, with two f-holes painted on to make her body resemble a violin.
Hughes Dubois is a photographer specialized in the photography of artworks.
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