Untitled (Glass Tears)
In this photograph, the face of a model known as Lydia acts as a backdrop for a group of small, gleaming glass balls. Man Ray made multiple variants of the image, in which the balls, like tears, appear to move and multiply across her static face from one version to another. He originally conceived it as an advertisement for smudge-proof mascara.
Artwork Details
- Title: Untitled (Glass Tears)
- Artist: Man Ray (American, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 1890–1976 Paris)
- Date: ca. 1930–33
- Medium: Gelatin silver print, 1935 or later
- Dimensions: 8 7/8 × 11 1/4 in. (22.5 × 28.6 cm)
- Classification: Photographs
- Credit Line: Bluff Collection, Promised Gift of John A. Pritzker
- Rights and Reproduction: © Man Ray 2015 Trust / Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY / ADAGP, Paris 2025
- Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art
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