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Nellie Mae Rowe

Empty Chair, 1981

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SPECIAL EXHIBITION
Man Ray
Man Ray: When Objects Dream is the first exhibition to situate the rayograph, Man Ray’s signature accomplishment, in relation to his larger body of work of the 1910s and 1920s. Drawing from the collections of The Met and more than 50 lenders, the exhibition will feature approximately 60 rayographs and 100 paintings, objects, prints, drawings, films, and photographs—including some of the artist’s most iconic works—to highlight the central role of the rayograph in Man Ray’s boundary-breaking practice.
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About the Artwork

Empty Chair, 1981. Nellie Mae Rowe. Graphite, crayon, and pastel on paper. Gift of Souls Grown Deep Foundation from the William S. Arnett Collection, 2014. © 2022 Nellie Mae Rowe / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.The artist reflects on her own mortality in Empty Chair. A female figure in a matching red hat and shirt, a surrogate for the painter, gazes upon a younger version of herself that hovers over an empty chair suggesting absence and loss. The older incarnation turns away from a Tree of Life flanked by a peaceful menagerie. Rowe’s complicated symbolic language frees her drawings from any fixed meaning or singular interpretation, allowing the viewer to meditate on the narrative and metaphorical possibilities embedded within each piece.

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Nellie Mae Rowe
Animals
Figures
Flowers and Plants
Trees and Shrubs
Contemporary
Drawings
Works On Paper
American Art
Women Artists
African American Artists
1980s
Nature
Life
Souls Grown Deep

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© Man Ray 2015 Trust / Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY / ADAGP, Paris 2025
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