The Gift (Le Cadeau in French) is a readymade sculpture by Man Ray, consisting of an iron with fourteen thumb tacks glued to its sole. An iconic work of the Dada movement, it was created spontaneously and exhibited at the opening of Ray's first solo show in Paris, at Phillippe Soupault's Galerie Six on December 3, 1921. The original is lost but ...

Although made in the spirit of Dada, Man Ray’s The Gift prefigured by several years a key artistic practice that would develop within the Surrealist movement: the “Surrealist object,” a type of three-dimensional art work that included found objects, modified objects, and sculpted objects.

Man Ray (born Emmanuel Radnitzky; August 27, 1890 – November 18, 1976) was an American visual artist who spent most of his career in Paris. He was a significant contributor to the Dada and Surrealist movements, although his ties to each were informal. He produced major works in a variety of media but considered himself a painter above all.

Man Ray is most remembered for his enigmatic Dada and Surrealist photographs, but has also created iconic paintings and sculptures.

The artwork, “The Gift,” exemplifies the unconventional nature of the Dada movement. It is an altered flat iron with a row of tacks glued perpendicularly to its smooth, flat surface. This transformation of a utilitarian object into a piece of provocative art challenges traditional perceptions of functionality and aesthetics.

Although made in the spirit of Dada, Man Ray’s Gift prefigured by several years a key artistic practice that would develop within the Surrealist movement: the “Surrealist object,” a type of three-dimensional art work that included found objects, modified objects, and sculpted objects.

Another assisted readymade, Ray took a simple utilitarian object, an iron, and made it evoke different qualities by attaching the tacks. Hence the tacks, which cling and hold, contrast with the iron, which is meant to smoothly glide, and both are rendered useless.

Man Ray showed Cadeau (The Gift) in his first solo exhibition at Phillippe Soupault’s Galerie Six. That same first day it appeared, the sculpture was stolen and never reclaimed. Ray created several replicas.

This strange object embodies the spirit of the Dada movement that erupted in 1916 in reaction against the chaotic destruction and mass slaughter of World War I. Man Ray made the original version in 1921 for the opening of his first solo exhibition in Paris.

Mar 26, 2024 · Now, imagine you stumble upon The Gift, a creation straight out of Man Ray’s wild imagination. It’s like he took your grandma’s old iron and sprinkled it with a dash of surreal magic. What do you get? A funky masterpiece that’s part art, part mystery, and all …