Salon de Mai - Deux figures 1971

This striking 1971 original lithograph, Deux Figures, was created by Man Ray for the Salon de Mai and is annotated H.C. (hors commerce) and signed by hand by the artist. Referenced as Anselmino 27 in the catalogue raisonné, this work captures Man Ray’s late abstract explorations with bold biomorphic forms outlined in thick black contours. The playful interaction of saturated primary colours – red, blue, and green – encapsulates his enduring commitment to modernist experimentation beyond Surrealism and Dada.

Born Emmanuel Radnitzky in Philadelphia in 1890, Man Ray emerged as one of the most radical and versatile figures of the 20th century, renowned for his pioneering photography, conceptual objects, and avant-garde painting. After relocating to Paris in the early 1920s, he became a leading light within Surrealist circles alongside Marcel Duchamp, André Breton, and Max Ernst, redefining visual language through cameraless photography (rayographs) and kinetic object-sculptures.

Created towards the end of his prolific career, Deux Figures reflects Man Ray’s turn to pure abstraction. The composition suggests organic figures or gestural outlines interlacing dynamically across the paper, conveying movement and playful spatial ambiguity, hallmarks of his late works that blurred figuration and abstraction with poetic freedom.

This lithograph was printed in a small hors commerce edition aside from the numbered run, reserved for the artist, printer, or collaborators. Its publication for the Salon de Mai – a crucial Parisian contemporary art exhibition founded in 1943 to resist Nazi cultural repression – underlines Man Ray’s lasting influence within post-war French artistic circles. His participation demonstrates both recognition of his lifelong modernist innovations and his enduring integration into the Parisian avant-garde, where he remained active until his death in 1976.

Today, Deux Figures stands as a powerful testament to Man Ray’s mastery of colour lithography and abstract form, making it a significant collectible for connoisseurs of Surrealist legacies, 20th-century abstraction, and signed original works by an artist whose visual vocabulary transformed modern art.

Exhibition - Abstract

Annotated H.C. and hand-signed by the artist - Anselmino 27

Printed by Mourlot

Good condition, one tear, small stains