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Fair Weather
Le Beau Temps
Man Ray, American, 1890 - 1976
Geography:
Made in France, Europe
Date:
1939Medium:
Oil on canvasDimensions:
6 feet 10 3/4 inches × 6 feet 6 3/4 inches (210.2 × 200 cm)Copyright:
© Man Ray Trust / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, ParisCuratorial Department:
American Art
2014-1-1Credit Line:
125th Anniversary Acquisition. Gift of Sidney and Caroline Kimmel, 2014
Made in France, Europe
Date:
1939Medium:
Oil on canvasDimensions:
6 feet 10 3/4 inches × 6 feet 6 3/4 inches (210.2 × 200 cm)Copyright:
© Man Ray Trust / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, ParisCuratorial Department:
American Art
* Gallery 269, Modern and Contemporary Art, second floor
Accession Number:2014-1-1Credit Line:
125th Anniversary Acquisition. Gift of Sidney and Caroline Kimmel, 2014
Label:
Man Ray described Fair Weather as the high point of his Surrealist production. Its vignettes derive from nightmares of barren trees growing in the artist’s yard, of mythical beasts fighting on his roof, and of an affair between his maid and carpenter. Other elements—such as the pool table and the mathematics book—refer to his earlier works. The mannequin in harlequin costume may be a kind of self-portrait. Completed just before the outbreak of World War II, Fair Weather is also an anxious and ironic premonition of the impending international conflict. The bombarded stone wall and the puddle of blood are immediately legible as consequences of violence. When Man Ray departed Europe in 1940 to return to the United States, he left this painting behind. The next year he made a smaller version, fearing that the original might be destroyed.
Man Ray described Fair Weather as the high point of his Surrealist production. Its vignettes derive from nightmares of barren trees growing in the artist’s yard, of mythical beasts fighting on his roof, and of an affair between his maid and carpenter. Other elements—such as the pool table and the mathematics book—refer to his earlier works. The mannequin in harlequin costume may be a kind of self-portrait. Completed just before the outbreak of World War II, Fair Weather is also an anxious and ironic premonition of the impending international conflict. The bombarded stone wall and the puddle of blood are immediately legible as consequences of violence. When Man Ray departed Europe in 1940 to return to the United States, he left this painting behind. The next year he made a smaller version, fearing that the original might be destroyed.
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