Emak Bakia

Man Ray (1890-1976)

Item type:

sculpture

Date of creation:

1962

Height:

74.2 cm  (29 3/16 in.)

Width:

14.5 cm  (5 11/16 in.)

Depth:

27.1 cm  (10 11/16 in.)

Technique / Medium:

wood and horsehair

Description

1962 (replica of 1926 original). Cello fingerboard and scroll with horsehair. Like many Surrealist objects, Emak Bakia materialized from a combination of chance discovery and artistic invention. Man Ray found the elegant amputated neck of a double bass at a flea market and paired it with the long, flowing hair of a horse. The light gray horsehair feminizes the instrument's curvaceous forms and is the material typically used to make its bow. Man Ray's enigmatic Basque title for the work, which translates as "leave me alone," is adapted from his 1926 film of the same name. As the title underscores, this object is ultimately an instrument of frustration, from which no music will ever flow. (Gallery label text.)

Instruments [MIMO Code] (notes)

Double bass [3111] (This sculpture was made from a discovered partial instrument.)

Image URLs

image link 1

RIdIM record id

2878