Man Ray
Vierge apprivoisée/Let me out), 1969
Ready-Made sculpture cast in Bronze contained in original black plexiglass box with perspex front
3 5/8 x 2 x 3 inches: Bronze Ready-Made
4 3/4 x 3 x 2 inches: plexiglass box
Incised "Man Ray” on one leg and incised “e.a." other leg
Published by Marcel Zerbib, Paris
Provenance
Marcel Zerbib, Paris
Arthur Brandt Collection, New York
Private Collection, New York
Literature
Andrea Inselmann, A Private Eye: Dada, Surrealism and More from the Brandt Collection, Herbert F Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, 2006, page 99, this example reproduced.
Jean-Hubert Martin, Rosalind Krauss, Brigitte Hermann, Man Ray:Objets de mon affection, Sculptures, Objets, Catalogue Raisonné, Paris, 1983, no. 136, page 155, another example reproduced.
Noriko Fuku, John P. Jacob, Man Ray: Unconcerned But Not Indifferent, The National Art Center, Tokyo, 2009, page 195, another example reproduced.
Exhibited
Museum Boymans-van Beuningen, Rotterdam, Man Ray, September-November, 1971, no. 212, another example exhibited.
Maruani Mercier Gallery, Brussels, From Man Ray to Mariën: An Idea of Surrealism, January 21-March 20, 2021, another example exhibited.
Turchin Center for the Arts, Boone, North Carolina, The Omnipotent Dream: Man Ray, Confluences and Influences, 2003, another example exhibited.
Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, A Private Eye: Dada, Surrealism and More from the Brandt Collection, October 21, 2006-December 24, 2006, this example exhibited.
Éditions Cahiers d’Art, Paris, France, Man Ray, April 14-May 28, 2022, another example exhibited.
Condition
Polished bronze example of Man Ray Vierge apprivoisée (Let Me Out) cast in 1969 in excellent condition aside from minor casting imperfections. Published so the Bronze Ready-Made is inside the black plexiglass box, the plexiglass box has minor scuffs and scratches. The bronze sculpture is screwed in at bottom as originally published and has minor scuffs and scratches due to age. Other examples of this Man Ray Ready-Made are often detached from the plexiglass box; in addition many examples have condition issues, including extensive tarnish, discoloration, scratches and deep gauges.
About Vierge apprivoisée/(Let me out), 1969
In this choice example of Vierge apprivoisée/Domesticated Virgin (Let me out) created in 1969, Man Ray provokes viewers by trapping a miniature bronze cast of a nude woman in a plexiglass box that is composed of black plexiglass on all sides except its clear plexiglass front cover. Vierge apprivoisée, the French title translates as “Deprived Virgin”; however Man Ray, the masterful American who was fluent in English and French, provides an alternative title in English: Domesticated Virgin - Let me out. No further comment necessary.
Published by Marcel Zerbib, France
Marcel Zerbib was a French gallerist and publisher of Man Ray Ready-Mades; Zerbib published the catalogue Man Ray objects of my affection, for a 1968 exhibition at Galerie Europe, Paris. Although Man Ray originally created his series of Ready-Mades in the 1920s, it was Marcel Zerbib’s initiative to publish an adjunct Ready-Made multiple series in the 1960s. As the catalogue title indicates, the Ready-Mades were particularly special to Man Ray as he counted them among his favorites.
Arthur Brandt Collection
Significantly this Bronze example of Man Ray's Vierge apprivoisée /Domesticated Virgin (Let me out), 1969 was included in A Private Eye: Dada, Surrealism and More from the Brandt Collection, a museum exhibition of the Arthur Brandt Collection at Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University from October 21, 2006-December 24, 2006. This example is also reproduced on page 99 in Andrea Inselmann's exhibition catalogue, A Private Eye: Dada, Surrealism and More from the Brandt Collection, Herbert F Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, 2006.
About Arthur Brandt
For reference, Arthur Brandt was a prolific New York collector who spent four decades acquiring Dada and Surrealist artworks after a chance encounter with Marcel Duchamp in 1955. In the 60's Arthur Brandt was introduced to Man Ray by Marcel Fleiss, the influential French art dealer.
About Joseph K. Levene Fine Art, Ltd.
Before establishing Joseph K. Levene Fine Art, Ltd. in 1991, Joseph K. Levene was President/Chief Operating Officer, Petersburg Press, Inc., the International publisher of limited editions by David Hockney, James Rosenquist, Howard Hodgkin, Roy Lichtenstein, Jim Dine, Frank Stella and Jasper Johns, including these iconic gems: 0-9 (ULAE 155), 1975, 0-9, Set of 10 Numbers (ULAE 156-165), 1975, Corpse and Mirror (ULAE 167), 1976, Target With Four Faces (ULAE 203), 1979, Target with Plaster Casts (ULAE 208), 1979-80.
In 2018 Joseph K. Levene Fine Art, Ltd. loaned multiple Andy Warhol works to Andy Warhol—From A to B and Back Again, the Andy Warhol retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American Art, which subsequently traveled in 2019 to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and in 2020 to the Art Institute of Chicago. Most recently Joseph K. Levene Fine Art, Ltd. loaned three George Condo paintings to the George Condo Retrospective at the Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris from October 10, 2026 to February 15, 2026. Organized in collaboration with George Condo, this was the most significant museum exhibition of George Condo’s work. Presented thematically, the 200 work retrospective included 80 paintings, 110 drawings and 20 sculptures.
