Man Ray was born Emmanuel Radnitsky, the son of Russian-Jewish immigrants who had settled in Philadelphia. In his early twenties he changed his name -- after years of being taunted because of its foreign sound. Ray's talents were obvious even in...
[more]Man Ray was born Emmanuel Radnitsky, the son of Russian-Jewish immigrants who had settled in Philadelphia. In his early twenties he changed his name -- after years of being taunted because of its foreign sound. Ray's talents were obvious even in childhood. He was skilled at building, repairing, inventing, and drawing. After rejecting a scholarship to study architecture, he supported himself as a commercial artist and draftsman while taking night classes in art at various New York schools. Ray was a frequent visitor to Alfred Stieglitz's gallery and spent long hours discussing art with his mentor, Robert Henri.
At 25, he had his first solo show. His work reflected the influence of Cubism, which he avidly studied. After meeting Marcel Duchamp, Ray bought his first camera. His friendship with Duchamp lasted more than 50 years, and it was Duchamp who encouraged him to move to Paris in 1921. Ray would spend almost the rest of his life there, becoming an important member of the Parisian Dadaist and Surrealist circles. Man Ray is known for his experimentation in almost every medium. His art is loaded with complicated puns and shocking subtexts.
His close friendships with artists of all disciplines were crucial in promoting a progressive dialog within Modernism on the merits of photography as an art form. With Lee Miller, Ray developed a photographic solarization process that he used in portraits and nudes. By the time of his death in Paris at age 86, his medium had emerged not only as an accepted art form but as a universal form of visual communication.
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