Cactus, 1969

Man Ray was born Emmanuel Radnitzky in South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Interested in art from a young age he educated himself by visiting art museums and studying the old masters. Man Ray earned money as a commercial artist in advertising and as a technical illustrator, while working towards a career as a painter. It was when studying at the Ferrer School of Art that he began to develop into a great visual artist. Man Ray worked in a variety of media, including photography, and while his early paintings show elements of cubism he also had links to the Dada and Surrealist movements, using flat forms and vivid colors. Early in his career he began creating objects and sculptures and developed unique methods such as airbrushing on glass and using a spray gun with pen drawings. Man Ray is also remembered for creating a type of photogram, which he referred to as ‘rayographs.’ Influenced by his friend and collaborator Marcel Duchamp he worked to bring some of the energy of European experimental art to America. In the 1920s Man Ray moved to Paris, where he spent much of the next 20 years. He became a respected photographer and captured images of many people famous in the art world, such as Pablo Picasso, Gertrude Stein and Jean Cocteau. In 1934 he produced a well-known series of photographs of surrealist artist Meret Oppenheim. Collaborating with Duchamp he directed several avant-garde short films and worked on the cinematography of others. Returning to the USA in the 1940s he worked in New York and Hollywood as a fashion photographer, renowned for his use of light and minimalism, while also producing a number of paintings. He had a solo exhibition at the Copely Galleries in Beverley Hills in 1958. Man Ray died in 1976 and left a legacy of original and experimental works. He is also remembered for the important role he played in the development of revolutionary art forms. (Artist website)