This work is one of the stencil prints from the 1972 reissue of Revolving Doors, a series originally conceived by Man Ray between 1916 and 1917. Combining geometric forms, machine-like motifs, and the visual effects of light and shadow, the series explored the perception of movement and transformation produced through rotation.
When the works were exhibited at the Daniel Gallery in New York in 1919, they were mounted on a rotating pillar that viewers could turn themselves. Although composed of static images, the series sought to evoke a sense of movement and duration, an artistic concern that would remain central to Man Ray’s later practice.
In 1926, Man Ray reconfigured the series as a portfolio of stencil prints and published it through Éditions Surréalistes in Paris. The works were subsequently reproduced in the Surrealist journal Minotaure in 1935, bringing their experimental imagery to a wider audience. The portfolio was reissued in 1972, and in the following year the artists Frédéric Béchirly and Peter Schönwald created a tapestry inspired by the reprint.
Repeatedly revisited and re-created over more than half a century, the Revolving Doors series embodies key themes of twentieth-century art that fascinated Man Ray, including the machine, movement, and abstraction. Its evolution from collage and printmaking to tapestry also reflects Man Ray’s experimental approach to artistic media and his continual exploration of new forms of expression.