Man Ray

A panorama of Man Ray’s protean artistic output spanning film, assemblage, drawing and much more

Emmanuel Radnitzky, better known as Man Ray (1890–1976), occupies a prominent place in 20th-century art. Living at the heart of the Parisian artistic milieu, he participated in the innovative experiments of the Dadaists and Surrealists, met with painters, poets and intellectuals, and ultimately rose to fame for his portraiture. He developed a career as a fashion photographer, notably working with designers Paul Poiret and Elsa Schiaparelli. A tireless experimenter, he rediscovered the technique of “photograms”―which Tristan Tzara named “rayographs”―and developed “solarization” with Lee Miller in 1929.
Man Ray is renowned for having revolutionized the art of photography, but he was also a painter, draftsman, sculptor, writer and filmmaker. This monograph synthesizes his entire artistic oeuvre, including painting, sculpture, works on paper and more. The book is thematically divided by medium, and includes such fascinating projects as the Marquis de Sade paintings and cinépoémes. This true panorama of his work allows for a better comprehension of Man Ray’s creative process and the importance of his art.