The Gift (sculpture)
The Gift ("Le Cadeau" in French) is a readymade sculpture by Man Ray, consisting of an iron with fourteen thumb tacks glued to its sole. An iconic work of the Dada movement, it was created spontaneously and exhibited at the opening of Ray's first solo show in Paris, at Phillippe Soupault's Galerie Six on December 3, 1921. The original is lost but its concept survives through later reproductions created or sanctioned by the artist. In his memoirs Ray recalled how the eccentric French composer Erik Satie, a devoted fan of avant-garde art, played a  pivotal role in the work's creation: This productive encounter marked the beginning of a friendship between artist and composer that lasted until Satie's death in 1925. Ray intended to present "The Gift" to Phillippe Soupault in gratitude for his sponsorship, but it was stolen from the Galerie Six the same day and never recovered. He went on to create many individual reproductions of the piece throughout his career, and in his last years Ray authorized two limited editions: a series of eleven collector's pieces published by the Galleria Il Fauno, Turin (1972), and a more commercial scale  5000 replicas of "The Gift" in 1974. One of these replicas was a featured exhibit at the now-defunct Musée-Placard d'Erik Satie in Paris; others are held by the Tate Modern in London, the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C.