Man Ray - Violon d'Ingres

Kiki of Montparnasse was a famous performer and Man Ray felt in love with her. For six years Kiki was for him lover, muse and model. He often used the outline of her body to represent other objects - as a mark of his artistic tendencies towards minimalism and abstraction.

During World War II, Man Ray was forced to leave Paris and to return to the United States. He came back to Montparnasse later, and lived there up to his end. His tomb is in the cemetery of Montparnasse - I passed by when I was in Paris, in 1999. His epitaph reads: Unconcerned, but not indifferent.