A rediscovered watercolor sketch by Man Ray, created in 1913 when he was in his early twenties, has resurfaced after decades in an attic and sold for £18,000 ($24,000) at Dreweatts auction house in Newbury, England, on July 10. The work, titled *Nude Playing Musical Instrument [Study for “Tapestry Painting”]*, is a preparatory study for a lost larger oil-on-linen tapestry and offers rare insight into the artist's pivotal transition from traditional painting to avant-garde experimentation inspired by European modernism encountered at the 1913 Armory Show.
This discovery matters because it illuminates a critical turning point in Man Ray's career, showing how he synthesized influences from Marcel Duchamp, Francis Picabia, and Cubism into his own distinctive visual language. The sketch foreshadows iconic later works such as *Le Violon d’Ingres* (1924) and *Glass tears* (1932), and its emergence provides art historians and collectors with a tangible link to a formative period that shaped one of the 20th century's most influential avant-garde figures. The sale also underscores the enduring market interest in early modernist works that offer provenance and scholarly value.