Red iron
(Fer rouge)
1966
Medium
enamel paint on iron
Measurements
15.7 × 9.4 × 9.5 cm
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Yvonne Pettengell Bequest, 2013
© Man Ray Trust. ADAGP/Copyright Agency
Gallery location
Late 19th & early 20th Century Paintings & Decorative Arts Gallery
Level 2, NGV International
About this work
Red iron (Fer rouge) is a modified readymade sculpture that consists of a metal flat iron painted red. Its title is a verbal pun on both the French expression feu rouge (red stop-light) and its literal meaning, ‘red-hot iron’. The work’s colour and title suggest fire and heat, while the object itself remains cold and impassive. This contrast between red-hot colouration and the iron’s frigid materiality plays upon the Surrealist object’s latent potential for violence.
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
Paris, France
Edition
ed. 5/10
Inscription
inscribed (vertically) in white paint u.c. Man Ray 1966 5/10
Accession Number
2013.938
Department
International Sculpture
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of Digitisation Champion Dame Carol Colburn-Grigor CBE through Metal Manufactures Limited