Tears of an artist

Tears by Man Ray

Back in the late 70's I almost moved into a Hollywood studio apartment once occupied by Man Ray. It was located on Vine Street between Sunset and Santa Monica Boulevards. It sounds romantic, but the location at the time and the apartment block itself was more akin to tenement living. I passed. Man Ray's photography and art, however, I never pass. Tears is a photograph that I've never seen before. My first impression was that it was publicity photo of the original blonde bombshell Jean Harlow from the 30s. I was way off - not with the period, the model.

Like the emotive expression of a silent screen star in a film still, the woman's plaintive upward glance and mascara-encrusted lashes seem intended to invoke wonder at the cause of her distress. The face, however, belongs not to a real woman but to a fashion mannequin who cries tears of glistening, round glass beads...

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[Thanks to Misty of Texas]

[© 2004 J. Paul Getty Trust]