André Derain in his Bugatti Type 43 Automobile (Primary Title)
Man Ray, American, 1890 - 1976 (Artist)
Reflecting his status as the one of the most successful French painters of the 1920s, André Derain purchased a pale blue Bugatti Type 43 Grand Sport in 1927 and invited Man Ray to join him on a day trip from Paris to Fontainebleau to test its speed and road handling. With its torpedo-shaped body and eight-cylinder engine, the Bugatti Type 43 was the world’s first 100-miles-per-hour production car. Man Ray made this photograph of Derain behind the wheel of his new automobile as a memento of their high-speed adventure in the French countryside, which included a delicious lunch with a fine bottle of wine at a famed gastronomic inn.
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