Inscription: Signed, dated, and inscribed (lower right of mount, in pencil): à Max Ernst Man Ray Paris 1923
the artist (1923; in 1923 to Ernst); Max Ernst (from 1923); (sale, Sotheby’s, London, April 14, 1989, no. 378, as "Abstract Composition incorporating Shoe Tree"); Jedermann Collection, Princeton, N. J.; [PaceMacGill, New York, 1999]; Claude Berri (1999–2005; his sale, Christie’s, Paris, November 19, 2005, no. 50, as "Sans titre," sold to Bluff); Bluff Collection (from 2005)
Washington, D.C. National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. "Perpetual Motif: The Art of Man Ray," December 2, 1988–February 20, 1989, not in catalogue.
Los Angeles. Museum of Contemporary Art. "Perpetual Motif: The Art of Man Ray," March 17–May 28, 1989, not in catalogue.
Houston. Menil Collection. "Perpetual Motif: The Art of Man Ray," June 30–September 17, 1989, not in catalogue.
Philadelphia Museum of Art. "Perpetual Motif: The Art of Man Ray," October 14, 1989–January 7, 1990, not in catalogue.
New York. Pace/MacGill Gallery. "Man Ray: Important Vintage Photographs," October 28–November 27, 1999, no catalogue.
San Francisco. Fraenkel Gallery. "Man Ray: Fifteen Photographs," December 2, 1999–January 29, 2000, no catalogue.
Jan Ceuleers, ed. Man Ray: 1890–1976. Exh. cat., Ronny Van de Velde, Antwerp. Ghent, 1994, p. 339, no. 305, ill. p. 238, calls it "Rayograph (Shoetree)".
Emmanuelle de l'Ecotais. Man Ray: Rayographies. Paris, 2002, p. 216, no. 69, ill. pp. 73, 216, calls it "Sans titre".
Sam Stourdzé. Icônes: Photographies de la collection Claude Berri. Exh. cat., Palais de l'Archevêché Cloître St. Trophime, Arles. Paris, 2003, ill. p. 102, calls it "Sans titre".
Stephanie D'Alessandro in Stephanie D'Alessandro and Stephen C. Pinson. Man Ray: When Objects Dream. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2025, pp. 70, 300, colorpl. 46.
The Met's engagement with art from 1890 to today includes the acquisition and exhibition of works in a range of media, spanning movements in modernism to contemporary practices from across the globe.
