Man Ray

Man Ray (Emmanuel Radnitzsky) was born in Philadelphia in 1890, the child of Russian-Jewish immigrants to the United States. After completing secondary school education and some basic courses in industrial design, he attended the Ferrer Center and came into contact with Alfred Stieglitz and the New York avant-garde circles. After his early works inspired by cubism he started experimenting with a variety of techniques –  including collage, sculpture, assemblage, and aerograph painting – and developing his photographic work. Together with Marcel Duchamp he was the main driving force behind the New York Dada movement and the promoter of many initiatives, from founding the Society of Independent Artists (1916) and the Société Anonyme Inc. (1920) to the publication of the “New York Dada” magazine (1921).
It was at this stage of his career that he produced his first “objects of affection”, including the renowned Enigme d’Isidore Ducasse. In 1921 he moved to Paris where he met up with Marcel Duchamp again and in the same year held a solo exhibit at the Librairie Six. He went on to produce his first Rayographs, published in the book Champs délicieux (1922) with a foreword by Tristan Tzara. After participating in the Salon Dada, held in 1922 at the Galerie Montaigne, he worked on the film Retour à la raison and forged ties with the Surrealists, alongside whom he displayed his works at the Galerie Pierre in 1925 and at all subsequent exhibits. He lived in Paris until 1940, earning a reputation as one of the best interpreters of surrealist poetics, with paintings, assemblages of objects, art films and photographic experimentations, while continuing to exhibit his works in both Europe and America. After the war broke out he left for the United States and lived in Los Angeles until 1951. While staying in America he devoted himself mostly to painting, producing the Shakespearian Equations and Alphabet for Adults series. Once back in Paris, he continued with his photographic experimentations and to create paintings and objects of affection. In 1959 the London Institute of Contemporary Art dedicated a major anthology to him and two years later the Venice Biennale awarded him the gold medal for photography. In 1966 the Los Angeles County Museum of Art held the first major retrospect exhibit of his work. In 1970 a large touring retrospect exhibit opened at the Museum Boymans van Beuningen in Rotterdam and went on to be displayed at various other European venues.
The artist died in Paris on 18th November 1976.