Autoportrait

Copied Man Ray, Autoportrait, modeled 1933, cast 1969, mixed media: brass, wood, newspapers, spectacles (glass with iron alloy frame), wood veneer business card , 14 x 8 1⁄4 x 5 3⁄8 in. (35.6 x 21.1 x 13.7 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Juliet Man Ray, 1983.105.2

Artwork Details

Title
Autoportrait
Artist
Date
modeled 1933, cast 1969
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
14 x 8 1⁄4 x 5 3⁄8 in. (35.6 x 21.1 x 13.7 cm.)
Credit Line
Gift of Juliet Man Ray
Mediums
Mediums Description
mixed media: brass, wood, newspapers, spectacles (glass with iron alloy frame), wood veneer business card
Classifications
Subjects
  • Occupation — art — painter
  • Dress — accessory — eye wear
  • Occupation — art — sculptor
  • Occupation — art — photographer
  • Portrait male — Man Ray — self-portrait
  • Portrait male — Man Ray — head
Object Number
1983.105.2

Artwork Description

Man Ray created this self-portrait in Paris, intending for it to appear on the cover of a book of his photographs. A bronze cast of his face, wearing the artist's glasses, mocks the tradition of memorializing great men with death masks. The cast is cushioned in newsprint like a corpse in a coffin. Autoportrait suggests an artist entombed in his reputation and belies Man Ray's brave assertion "I simply try to be as free as possible . . . The work is done. I have total freedom."

Exhibition Label, Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2006