The Getty Research Institute in L.A. just bought up dozens of Man Ray’s datebooks, adding more fascinating fragments of the artist’s life and prolific career to their already extensive collection. “The nude is always in fashion,” he writes in one book, adding that, “All that is modern today will be old-fashioned and ridiculous tomorrow. But some of the tricks of today may be the truths of tomorrow.” Several of the books purchased from a private New York collector contain more thoughtful observations, while others were used primarily as planners over the span of 27 years (1923 to 1940).

It seems unreal that someone would spend a day hanging out with André Breton, Picasso, and Hemingway (our liver hurts just thinking about it), but the American artist’s Parisian circle was impressive. The new acquisition means The Getty has the second biggest collection of Man Ray’s personal effects (the Centre Pompidou in Paris has the most). Hopefully we’ll be able to see the books firsthand soon. [via Culture Monster]

Still from Stay the Same Never Change

Laurel Nakadate is an American filmmaker, video artist, and photographer based in New York City; she was born in 1975 in Austin, Texas, and spent her childhood in Ames, Iowa. In 2005, Nakadate’s Love Hotel and Other Stories received critical acclaim and Jerry Saltz dubbed her a standout at a P.S.1 group show that same year. She has since been exhibited at the Mary Boone Gallery and the Asia Society in New York, the Howard Yezerski Gallery in Boston, the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, and the Reina Sofia in Madrid. Stay the Same Never Change — a nonlinear yarn about young women set in the heartland — is her first feature film. It plays Rooftop Films Summer Series this Saturday night at 8 p.m. Read More »