Permanent Attraction: Man Ray & Chess - by Larry List (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

Dive deep, for the first time, into Man Ray's career-long obsession with chess-themed artworks and their influence on international Modernism.

Authorized by The Man Ray Trust, Permanent Attraction: Man Ray & Chess is the first and only book on Man Ray's chess-themed works in all media. With experience in studio art, chess, photography, cartography, prototyping, and scholarly research, the author offers a comprehensive interpretation of when, how, and why Man Ray created these timeless works.

Man Ray's chess set designs are as sought after as his innovative photography, collected by everyone from the Maharajah of Indore to Igor Stravinsky, Artie Shaw, and David Bowie. Today, Man Ray's chess-themed works are in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Museum of the Art Institute of Chicago, Centre Georges Pompidou, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and numerous other institutions, as well as being highly prized by private collectors the world over.

Review Quotes

"A beautiful book and a delightful, clever way of re-examining Man Ray's work. A study of his unique and dedicated relationship to chess was totally lacking until now. Fortunately, this gap has at last been filled with this extensive independent research. It cannot leave anyone indifferent to the facts. It is a pleasure to discover this work."-- "Sonya Zannettacci, Director of Gallerie Zannettaccia, Geneva, Switzerland"

"A fantastic new book - already a collector's item! Extraordinarily painstaking work, solid and attractive. Lavishly filled with illustrations, color photos and even illustrated end papers. This book delights a collector's heart. I am really impressed." -- "Ralph Binnewirtz, chess journalist and collector, Cologne, Germany"

"A fine work of research. And a clear and animating text. It shows how valuable it is to join the approaches of both a researcher and a maker of objects." -- "Johannes Stahl, curator and art historian, Cologne, Germany"

"Artist Man Ray combined flashes of inspiration with methodical application. No wonder that he was drawn to the game of chess, which demands both. Larry List's inspired idea was to investigate the chess-related aspects of Man Ray's multi-faceted career. He has plumbed the subject with a thoroughness worthy of the master, giving us many enlightening and entertaining insights."-- "Arthur Lubow, contributor to the New York Times and The New Yorker, author of Man Ray: The Artist and His Shadows"

"At last, a wonderful Man Ray chess book. What an achievement, it is beautiful." -- "Mark Sanders, curator, gallerist and author of The Art of Chess, London, England"

"Beautifully written and meticulously researched, it fills the last remaining gap in Man Ray scholarship. It is a must-read for anyone interested in the history of modern art, design, or chess."-- "Michael R. Taylor, Artistic Director of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and Curator of Man Ray: The Paris Years, Marcel Duchamp: Etant donnes, and Salvador Dali: The Centenial Retrospective"

"Larry List is the chess grandmaster of Man Ray studies. Permanent Attraction is jam-packed with championship-level scholarship."-- "Mark Polizzotti, author of Revolution of the Mind: The Life of Andre Breton and Why Surrealism Matters"

"This book does not offer chess tactics or strategy but instead offers chess inspiration by showcasing the complex beauties of bold chess set designs and artworks made by a 20th century master with a lifelong passion for chess. It is a fine addition to our chess libraries." -- "Susan Polgar, Chess Grandmaster, Triple-Crown World Champion, 5-time Olympiad Gold Medalist, Hall of Famer and author of the Learn Chess the Right Way series and Rebel Queen, her autobiography"

"This text and its combination of images presents such a thorough, comprehensive inventory of all the chess-related art that Man Ray produced that it would now seem inconceivable that anyone would attempt to understand the totality of his artistic production without consulting it."-- "Francis M. Naumann, art historian, curator and gallerist, author of New York Dada 1915-25 and Impossible: The Love Affair Between Marcel Duchamp & Maria Martins & the Work It Inspired"

"What preciseness of data. There is so much important and surprising information and imagery in this book." -- "Marino Vismara, Man Ray scholar & collector, Florence, Italy"

About the Author

Larry List is an independent writer and curator of Dada, Surreal, and chess-related art. His exhibitions include The Imagery of Chess Revisited, The Art of Chess, Man Ray & Sherrie Levine, and John Cage & Glenn Kaino. He has written catalog essays for The Noguchi Museum, The Menil Collection, The Tate Modern, The Andy Warhol Museum, and many others.