The private dealer, Timothy Baum, who specialises in Dada and Surrealism, knew Man Ray from 1968 until the artist death in 1976. He recalled a conversation with the artist in the late 1960s, during which he explained the title of his work.

The work derives from the Duchamp ready-made presented in 1936 for the Exposition Surréaliste d'Objets at the Parisian gallery Charles Ratton. Man Ray and Duchamp had been scouting flee-markets for bottle racks since Duchamp’s original 1914 version had long since disappeared, and he wanted its replacement for Ratton’s show. In the end, they found two, and Man Ray brought the second one to his studio, adding the finishing touch of the wooden lay figures as his vacationers.

When Man Ray fled the Nazi occupation in France (via Portugal) for America in 1940, the work was stored with many of his other works in the care of Ady (Adrienne) Fidelin, his companion at the time, who had decided to remain with her family in Paris, and of Lucien Lefebvre-Foinet.

Upon Man’s return in Paris in 1951, he and Juliet Browner settled at 2 bis rue Férou for their home and studio.

All the salvaged works and belongings, included Les Grandes Vacances, were moved in the new studio.