Les Mains Libres
Paul Eluard & Man Ray
“Man Ray offered artists in all media an example of a creative intelligence that, in its ‘pursuit of pleasure and liberty’ unlocked every door it came to and walked freely where it would” (ARTnews, “The Century’s 25 Most Influential Artists”).
FIRST EDITION, one of only 675 numbered copies, illustrated throughout with full-page plates by Man Ray.
“During the thirties, Man Ray made a large number of drawings while in Paris or travelling in the south of France. Man Ray had shown these drawings to Eluard, who had asked him to leave them with him. On Man Ray’s return, some weeks later, he found to his delight that his friend had ‘illustrated’ each drawing with a poem. This new and unexpected proof of Eluard’s esteem resulted in the publication of Les Mains Libres, a book in which more than sixty pen-and-ink drawings are reproduced, fifty-four of them opposite Eluard’s poem” (Penrose, 134).
SALOMÉ GAUTIER 