Series contains letters and postcards to Siegler and Savage. The letters to his sister date from shortly after he arrived
in Paris in 1921 (letters begin in 1922) to her death in 1957. Siegler acted as his New York agent and thus handled many of
his business affairs and set prices for some of his works. By the 1950s she was his exclusive U.S. representative. Letters
cover these and other matters including tracking, storing and shipping of his works in New York; exhibitions throughout his
career; paucity of sales in the early Paris and the Hollywood years; requests for camera equipment and clothing; the war and
property he abandoned in France; travels; creation, sale and inventory of chess sets; his preference for painting over photography
(see especially letter dated 15 April 1936); the "Sade" painting; and his parent's finances and other family matters.
The letters to his niece begin in 1945 and end in 1976, the year he died. These letters record Savage's vigilance in caring
for his works stored in New York. They include topics such as, his encouragement and advice on her photographic work; problems
with gallery representation in Europe during his later Paris period; book publications, especially
Self Portrait; success and recognition obtained in the 1960s; and his failing health from the mid-1960s onward. This series also includes
a small quantity of letters received by Siegler and Savage from galleries and museums concerning loans and shipping, and correspondence
with Adrienne Fidelin, Man Ray's lover in France prior to his departure for the U.S. in 1940.
Box
Folder
1
1
Elsie Ray Siegler, 1922-1929
23.0 items
1
2
1930-1939
44.0 items
1
3
1940-1941
33.0 items
1
4
1942-1944
24.0 items
1
5
1945-1949
40.0 items
1
6
1950-1952
17.0 items
1
7
1953-1954
35.0 items
1
8
1956-1958, n.d.
33.0 items
1
9
Naomi Savage, 1945-1959
31.0 items
1
10
1960-1964
48.0 items
Box
Folder
2
1
Naomi Savage, 1965-1969
39.0 items
2
2
1970-1976
39.0 items
2
3
Letters to Siegler and Savage concerning Man Ray, 1936-1958
25.0 items
Letters, mostly from museums and galleries, pertain to loans and shipping. Includes 2 letters from Hans Richter (27 Oct 1952,
24 Jun 1958).
2
4
Adrienne Fidelin, 1940
6.0 items
Love letters in which they request news of each other. Man Ray's letters to Fidelin never reached her and were returned to
Siegler. Fidelin's letters reached Siegler after Man Ray left for Hollywood.
Series contains letters and postcards of a personal and professional nature from artists, authors, museum personnel, collectors,
publishers, and gallery owners, spanning Man Ray's years in Hollywood. The letters from artists and authors document friendships,
collaborations, works in progress, emigrations from France, and exhibitions. Notable correspondents are Salvador Dali, Marcel
Duchamp, Max Ernst and Dorothea Tanning, Henry Miller, Gilbert Neiman, Mary Reynolds, Hans Richter, James Thrall Soby, and
Yves Tanguy.
Box
Folder
2
5
Dali, Salvador, 1941
2.0 letters
Letters requesting photographs for his book, with mentions of travel, expositions, and other personal matters.
Includes letter asking Man Ray to become Vice President of the society since Kandinsky died (1945); 3 letters, one of which
has a note from Duchamp (1948), concerning the Yale University Art Gallery exhibit and donation of The Promenade; and postcard
about Schwitters for an exhibition at the Pinacotheca (1947).
2
7
Duchamp, Marcel, 1940-1941, 1943-1950
29.0 items
Personal letters concerning his and other artists' plans for leaving France; much on chess and the creation of chess sets
and boards; about an exhibition of rotoreliefs with sketches on how to install (948 Apr 10); and about the creation and sale
of his boxes; with news of Mary Reynolds and one letter written by the two of them. (See also Mary Reynolds letters in Box
2, folder 19, previously unidentified).
2
8
Ernst, Max and Dorothea Tanning, 1948, n.d.
12.0 letters
Chatty letters concerning personal matters with some comments about work and exhibitions. Includes 1 letter from Tanning about
touching up some portrait photographs Man Ray sent and her photogenic qualities (Mar 24). Most dated without years, 2 dated
1948.
2
9
Ford, Charles-Henri, 1943
2.0 postcards
2
10
Miller, Henry, 1945-1948, n.d.
19.0 items
Personal letters and postcards mentioning friends (several references to Gilbert Neiman), books, Sade, and photographs for
Miller's postcard stationary. Also includes long discussions on the duality of man, and suggests that Man Ray create portraits
based on phrenology (Feb 9, Mar 24).
2
11
Motherwell, Robert, 1948
2.0 letters
Regarding
Dada painters and poets. One letter written by George Wittenborn.
2
12
Neiman, Gilbert, 1943-1948, 1950
29.0 letters
Witty, personal letters contain much literary gossip, including his thoughts on the work of Eluard, Breton, Céline, their
mutual friend Henry Miller and many other writers and publishers. Included are discussions of his own writings and his struggles
to publish. With a 4 p. poem "Twist the Face of Time" (sent with a letter dated 1944 Sep 8) and two 1 p. poems, "A Communication"
and "Enocomics"(both ca. 1946).
2
13-14
Richter, Hans, 1942-1950
Three letters give news of himself and others, among other things, 1948, 1950. Another folder contains 12 letters (1942, 1945-1946,
1948), clippings, catalog and announcement concerning his film
Dreams that money can buy. The letters chronicle Richter's difficulty interpreting Man Ray's story onto film, his thoughts on how it should be done,
the type of critics who are interested in reviewing the film, and the Hollywood opening. The verso of one of the letters contains
a typed statement by Man Ray detailing his approach to art, which was edited down for the catalog. (See also Special Collections
accession nos. 880428 and 970021 for more on
Dreams that money can buy.)
2
15
Soby, James Thrall, 1939, 1941-1943, 1948-1949
8.0 letters
Letters in which Soby discusses the following topics (among others): his thoughts about donating Man Ray's photographs that
Soby published to the museum in Hartford; his collection of art, including a drawing by Picasso of Man Ray which Soby has
but knows he should return to Man Ray; the album sales; the task of locating photographs of Duchamp's works for a book; his
thoughts on the art business in NYC; his request for photographs for the Army Camps show; and reassurances to Man Ray about
the exhibit of his photographs in Monroe Wheeler's portrait show.
2
16
Tanguy, Yves, 1940, 1950, undated
3.0 items
2 letters (one of which is illustrated on the verso) updating Man Ray on emigration plans of their artist friends; with a
note.
2
17
Miscellaneous letters A-L
ca. 55 items
Letters from artists, museum staff, gallery owners, collectors, publishers, and friends concerning a variety of topics. Correspondents
include Antonin Artaud, Leo Castelli, Leonor Fini, Seymour Hacker, John Laughlin, Julien Levy, among others.
2
18
Miscellaneous letters M-Z
ca. 55 items
Includes letters from Maria Martins, Moholy-Nagy, Sibyl Moholy-Nagy, Pierre Matisse, Museum of Modern Art personnel, Beaumont
Newhall, Wolfgang Paalen, Kenneth Rexroth.
2
19
Unidentified
ca. 20 items
Includes letters from Mary Reynolds to Man Ray (Mary Louise Hubachek Reynolds, 1891-1950), signed only "Mary", and previously
unidentified. In one letter she refers to her brother, Frank Brookes Hubachek.
The Hollywood album holds handwritten and typescript writings, most of one page, on art and aesthetics, written and assembled
by Man Ray, 1940-1948. The album pages have been re-housed in boxes 3-4.
Loose items, including handwritten notes, photographs, drawings, a manuscript, and a catalog, originally accompanied the notebook
but are now housed separately, with the original notebook binder, in box 5.
Box
3-4
Album
Hollywood album is composed of 12 sections of manuscripts, by topic.
Box
3
Music and Cinema
On the cinema, ideas for films, the superiority of painting and drawing over film.
3
Painting and Photography (P&P)
3
Art and Science (A&S)
3
Objects
3
In Time
On the subject of time.
3
Sade
About the marquis de Sade.
3
Influences
Influences in art.
3
Words
On the study of words, writing and writers. Includes "Portraits" or "Men I have Known."
Box
4
Nature and the Man
On the human form, imitation and nature.
4
Dream
Significance of dreams as subjects in art. Includes "Apprentices and pupils."
4
Image
4
Calm Diatribe
Poem in handwritten and typed form.
Box
5
Material accompanying the Album
Materials originally inside cover of a Julian Levy Gallery catalog.
5
1
Manuscripts
5
1
"Revolving Doors"
5
1
"Math & Butterflies"
5
1
"A Note on the Shakespearean Equations"
5
1
"Equations for Shakespear [sic]"
5
1
"Photography in Reverse"
5
1
"Statement on Surrealism"
5
1
"Inevitability of Modern Art"
5
1
"The World We Make Believe"
5
1
Drawings
3.0 items
Ink drawing of a camera; 2 pencil drawings.
5
1
Photograph of group, Hollywood, 1948
Alfred Lewin, Millie Lewin, Juliet Man Ray, Hans Richter, Man Ray, Florence Homulka in front of poster for
Dreams that Money can Buy (film opening?).
5
1
Astrological chart for Man Ray
5
1
Julian Levy Gallery catalog, 1945
5
2
Original notebook for Album
Cover includes photograph of Man Ray signed by Man Ray and Savage, 1948.
