Man Ray’s 1930s photograph of an Aztec Birthing figure literally and
figuratively shines new light on a little-explored chapter of Surrealism’s engagement with the indigenous arts of the Americas. Commonly identified as Tlazolteotl— the goddess of earth, sex, and childbirth in Aztec mythology—the stone carving provided the photographer with a captivating object embodying the Surrealists’ fascination with dualities and the grotesque. The anguish and tension conveyed by
her jutting jaw, teeth-baring grimace, and face grossly contorted in the agony of labor
belies her empty and expressionless gaze. Evoking conflicting responses of empathy
and revulsion as she gives birth to a misshapen creature, the crouching figure
presents incongruities appealing to Surrealist sensibilities. Indeed, this enigmatic
figure attracted an entourage of admirers among aficionados of pre-Columbian art
in the 1930s, André Breton foremost among them. He acquired a ceramic copy of
the coveted statuette that in spite of being a rather mediocre facsimile he nonetheless
added to his eclectic collection and retained until the end of his life.

Despite the Tlazolteotl figure’s status as one of the most exhibited, reproduced and celebrated objects of Aztec art, Man Ray’s photographic engagement with it has surprisingly escaped attention. This oversight
might be explained in part by the apparent absence of the image in any publication or exhibition, either at the time it was made or subsequently. The obscurity of this photograph nonetheless seems odd given that this highly unusual photomontage constructed from a series of related prints are in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, where they have languished since they arrived in 1941 as part of a bequest from James Thrall Soby. While Man Ray’s photographs of African and—to a lesser extent—
Oceanic art are attracting increasing critical interest, these images and his other
photographs of objects from indigenous peoples of the “New World” are virtually
unknown.