Transfiguration d'un cactus, 1971

Man Ray   Master Artists

Man Ray, born Emmanuel Rudnitsky in Philadelphia, 1890. He was initially enrolled in architecture before devoting himself entirely to art.

After beginning an advertising career in New York, 1912, he rubbed shoulders with avant-garde artist Marcel Duchamp. Man Ray's artistic production fluctuated between painting and photography. He attempted to create an American branch in 1915 of the Dada movement with Marcel Duchamp, but it was unsuccessful and Man Ray gave up the idea in 1920, stating that the movement can't exist in New York.

Man Ray arrived in Paris, joining the French Dada movement with Duchamp in 1921. He presented his initial "Ready Made" after a few trials painted with a spray gun, but he eventually turned towards photography as he found this medium to be the most interesting for his artistic research. Man Ray often took photos of famous people such as Jean Cocteau and James Joyce.

Man Ray revolutionized photography for over thirty years and completed the nude series of Meret Oppenheim. Upon discovered the solarization technique, Man Ray managed to develop his artistic approach, by adding a kind of a halo around the characters, each of them positioned in a surrealistic manner.

Throughout his life, Man Ray continued his photography work, but he also expressed himself through painting, assembling and collage. In 1976, he died in Paris and was buried at the Montparnasse cemetery. The inscription reads, "Unconcerned, but not indifferent", on his tombstone. Man Ray became one of the greatest artists of the dada and surrealist period by revolutionizing global photography.