LES MAINS DE MARGARET NEIMAN

 

           ©Man Ray Trust/Adagp, Paris

Man Ray, circa 1945 

A gelatin silver print on paper, this photograph captures the hands of Margaret Neiman, a model and muse within Man Ray’s artistic circle. The image measures 12 × 9 cm and belongs to the Cabinet de la photographie of the Musée national d’art moderne, Centre Pompidou. Created around 1945, the print is part of Man Ray’s post-Surrealist period, reflecting his enduring interest in fragmentation, the body, and symbolism. 

The photograph was added to the museum’s collection in 1994 (inventory number AM 1994-393), further enriching its archive of 20th-century photographic works. This print is a negative, not a positive image, suggesting it may have served as a study, a preparatory work, or a conceptual reversal of presence and absence, a common approach in Man Ray’s work with the photographed form.