Man Ray created the photograph Le Violon d’Ingres in 1924. The American artist made it one of the most recognizable images in Surrealist photography.
The photograph shows Kiki de Montparnasse, Man Ray’s model and companion, posed from behind like the nude figure in Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres’s painting The Valpinçon Bather. Man Ray added two violin-shaped f-holes to her back, turning the human body into a visual musical instrument.
Its French title means “Ingres’ Violin.” It also refers to the French expression le violon d’Ingres, meaning a hobby or favorite pursuit; Ingres reportedly played the violin when he was not painting. The image therefore combines artistic homage, wordplay, and deliberate visual transformation.
The work first appeared in the Surrealist magazine Littérature in June 1924. A gelatin silver print sold at Christie’s in 2022 for $12.4 million, briefly making it the most expensive photograph ever sold at auction. Max Ernst, Magritte, and Dalí were fellow Surrealists, but they did not create this photograph.