Acquis directement de l'artiste vers 1969 par le propriétaire actuel

Paris, Trianon de Bagatelle, Man Ray, 360 degrés de liberté, 1989, reproduit p. 100
Londres, Serpentine Gallery, Man Ray, 1995, non numéroté
Nice, Musée d'Art Moderne et Contemporain, Man Ray 1912-1976, Rétrospective, 1997

Executed on cream laid paper, not laid down. The sheet is taped to the overmount at the four corners. Apart from some very light time staining along the edges, this work is in very good original condition.
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signed 'Man Ray', dated '11/12-40' and titled 'le toil' (lower right), ink on pencil on paper. Executed in 1940. 

Le titre ici inscrit par Man Ray reste ouvert et peut être lu comme Le Toit ou Le Toil. Cette deuxième lecture semble la plus vraisemblable, Man Ray jouant ainsi sur le sens du mot anglais "toil", "quelque chose qui ligote, attrape, empêtre, comme une trappe ou un piège".  La composition montre une femme nue placée dans une sorte de cage pendant qu'une autre, torse nu et l'air effrayée, épouse la paroi d'une pyramide  montre sa peur et tente désespérément de s'envoler. Dessinée en 1940, l'année où Man Ray quitta la France pour les Etats-Unis et devint ainsi réfugié dans son propre pays, cette œuvre, brillante scène d'effroi et de domination, fait écho au chaos de l'Europe entrant en guerre.

The title as inscribed by Man Ray remains open to interpretation and can be read as either "Le Toit" (roof, in French) or "Le Toil." It would seem likely to be the latter since this word can be related to the subject of the present drawing. In English, "toil" can also be defined as "something that binds, snares or entangles one; an entrapment or a net f❀or trapping game." In the composition, a naked woman is placed in a cage-like structure, while another woman in a state of terror presses herself against the side of a pyramid, perhaps attempting to flee. Drawn in 1940, the year in which Man Ray himself fled France to become a refugee in his own country, this drawing is clearly a reference to the turmoil in Europe at the outbreak of the war and it successfully depicts a scene of horror and domination.