Deneuve with earrings at auction

The large earrings worn by Catherine Deneuve in 1968 are up for auction. Or rather, the portrait by the great photographer Man Ray, in which the actress is wearing that unmistakable jewel, is up for sale. The original print of the image is estimated at between 7,000 and 10,000 euros and will be part of the 400 works by Man Ray that will be offered at auction on November 15th at Sotheby’s in Paris, directly from the Man Ray Trust. Most of the photos have never been seen by the public. In a previous auction of Man Ray’s works organized by Sotheby’s in London, in 1995, over 600 pieces were sold for 4 million pounds. In the photo, the French actress is wearing a pair of immense gold-plated earrings, later sold at Sotheby’s for 20 thousand dollars. “Man Ray was artisanal and the session was very fast,” Catherine Deneuve recalls today. “I was very surprised by the way he worked… I don’t like being photographed much, but I wanted to meet him. In France he was known as a photographer and a surrealist artist, very important. The way he worked reminded me of Luis Buñuel (Spanish director with whom Deneuve worked on Belle de Jour).”