Man Ray (1890-1976) is widely regarded as a one of the most important American artists involved in the Dada movement of the nineteen tens and twenties, though his works span a variety of mediums and decades. While Ray always considered himself first and foremost a painter, he is most remembered for his experimental and innovative techniques of photography.
Beginnings
Man Ray
Ray was born as Emmanuel Radnitzky in 1890, to Russian-Jewish immigrants in Philadelphia. Shortly after, the family relocated to Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and changed their surname to Ray. His father was a tailor and his mother was a seamstress. Their professions are often referenced in Ray’s art.
Ray worked odd jobs as a commercial artist until 1912, when he enrolled in the Ferrer school to study painting more seriously. Here he was inspired by the ideas of the Ashcan School, and painters such as Robert Henri. In 1913, he began to frequent Alfred Stieglitz’s Gallery 291 where he was first exposed to photography. Initially, Ray used photography to catalog his paintings but began to experiment with it as well. In 1914, he married his first wife, Belgian poet Adon Lacroix.
In 1915 Man Ray met Marcel Duchamp, a Parisian artist who had moved to New York City at the advent of the first world war. Duchamp introduced Ray to the surreal and to Dada-ism. Ray helped Duchamp construct his famous work “the fountain” in 1917. By 1920, Ray had produced his own work of Dada sculpture.
Dada and New York
Le Cadeau (The Gift), Man Ray (1921)
Dada was an artistic movement in the 1910s and 20s that questioned what art meant and what it was supposed to do. Most Dada art is ready-mades, readily purchased objects slightly modified and put on display. Dada artists emphasized chance and worried little over details. The art was intended to be humorous or satirical, and often critiqued society, especially the materialism of the wealthy.
Ray’s first work of Dada sculpture was called “The Enigma of Isidore Ducasse”. It was a photograph of an object covered with an army tarp and tied with string. The piece was inspired by Ducasse’s poem, which referred to a sewing machine sitting on a table. It was well received, but his most well-known ready-made was released a year later. “The Gift” was an iron with fourteen sewing tacks glued to the bottom of it. Ray constructed it the day of the exhibition where it would feature, as a present to the owner of the gallery. The original was stolen that same day. These two works are examples of how his parents occupations were evident in his artwork, as well as the common contrast of the feminine and the masculine often found in Ray’s work. Duchamp and Ray tried several times to launch a Dada movement in New York. Their last attempt was the Société Anonyme Inc. in 1920, intended as a collective for Dada artists. It lasted until 1950, though its focus shifted to more modern art.
“Dada cannot live in New York. All New York is dada, and will not tolerate a rival.”
– Man Ray
Paris
Le Violon d’Ingres (The Violin of Ingres), Man Ray (1924)
After the exhibit, convinced by Duchamp that there was little left for Ray in New York, he moved to Paris. He and his wife split and he moved to the Montparnasse district, known for hosting artists and thinkers of the time. There he met Kiki de Montparnasse, an entertainer and influential member of artistic society in Paris. They began working closely together. Ray made his most influential photography work while the two were involved, including the famous rayograph “The Kiss” and well as some of his most well-known images “Le Violon d’Ingres” and “Noire et Blanche”. They all featured Kiki, as did his experimental film L’étoile De Mer.
Following their split, Man Ray threw himself further into portraiture, which he had picked up while with Kiki. He had been commissioned by Vogue and Vanity Fair to produce fashion photography. Ray had taken photos of major members of Parisian artistic society at the time, including Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso, James Joyce, and Gertrude Stein. He became known as the documenter of Parisian culture in the 1920s.
In 1929, along with his assistant and lover, Lee Miller, Ray began developing a new method of photography. Together, the two developed the technique of solarization, where the image is exposed to a bright flash that leaves part of it completely negative.
Lee Miller by Man Ray (1929)
While with Miller, Ray began to move away from Dada and further into the surreal, producing works such as “Les Larmes” and “l’Heure de l’Observatoire: les Amoureux”. Miller left him in 1932. Following their split, Ray re-created his famous ready-made “Indestructible Object” and renamed it “Object of Destruction”. He attached Miller’s eye to the center with directions instructing the viewer to “Cut out the eye from a photograph of one who has been loved but is seen no more.” In 1957, following these instructions, the object was destroyed, and using insurance money Ray made several more. He often reproduced works of his own art many times with many iterations, because he believed art should be reproduced. This strayed from many widely held beliefs that an artist creates one work and moves on. Ray included parts of Miller in his works in an attempt to break her up. Her lips are in “l’Heure de l’Observatoire: les Amoureux”.
Endings
Soon after, Ray left France due to World War 2. He moved to Hollywood, where he continued to take fashion photographs and portraits for magazines. Though he was successful, he felt unfulfilled, and longed to return to Paris. In Los Angeles he met his last wife, Juliet Browner. They married in 1946 and in 1951 the two returned to Paris. In 1963 Ray published an autobiographical account of his life titled “Self Portrait”. He passed away in 1976. His epitaph reads “Unconcerned, but not indifferent.”, an allusion to his love of breaking convention in art.
Themes
Les Larmes (Glass Tears), Man Ray (1932)
The most prevalent theme in Man Ray’s work is “What is art and what is its purpose?”. This was a theme frequently explored by many Dada and avant-garde artists. For example, the subject of “Glass Tears” is actually a mannequin, though everything about the photograph suggests she is a real person. He claimed this was a mockery of still-life photography and its superficial attempt at conveying human emotion. He also mocked artists by reproducing many of his works. Ray remade five thousand copies as limited editions of “The Gift” by 1974, after its disappearance in 1921. Much of his art was highly experimental and questioned what art really was.
You can also connect his art to the theme of morals and norms. He was influenced in his thinking back when he first enrolled in the Ferrer school and met painters from the Ashcan school. He took this way of thinking with him to Paris, where his frequent encounters with great thinkers of the time, shaped him to be an active person in the society around him. The critique of materialism and gender roles prevalent in Ray’s work suggest he intended to use his art to make a statement about society as a whole. Ray often contrasted women’s bodies with objects in his work, questioning the objectification of the body. He frequently commented on society of the 1920s in his art, satirizing the materialism of the wealthy and mocking the divide between feminine and masculine.
Citations
Jung, Jin. “Man Ray Biography, Art, and Analysis of Works.” TheArtStory.org, The Art Story Contributors, 2017, www.theartstory.org/artist-ray-man.htm.
Jung, Jin. “Man Ray Biography, Art, and Analysis of Works.” TheArtStory.org, The Art Story Contributors, 2017, www.theartstory.org/artist-ray-man-artworks.htm#pnt_5.
“Man Ray.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, 10 Aug. 2015, www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/man-ray-prophet-of-the-avant-garde/510/.
MoMA. “MoMA Learning.” MoMA | Dada, MoMA, 2017, www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/themes/dada.
National Portrait Gallery. “Man Ray Portraits.” Npg.org.uk, National Portrait Gallery , 2013, www.npg.org.uk/whatson/man-ray-portraits/exhibition/1916-to-1976#newyork1916-20.
The Art Story Contributors . “Dada Movement, Artists and Major Works.” The Art Story, The Art Story Contributors, 2017, www.theartstory.org/movement-dada.htm.
The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. “Man Ray.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., 31 May 2017, www.britannica.com/biography/Man-Ray.
December 17, 2017 at 5:44 am
In my opinion, the entire Dada movement seems pointless. While critics and those who think too hard about simple things may consider the movement to be extremely important, it brings up the everlasting question of “what is considered, art?” When I was learning about composing music, my class often looked at various pieces that reallllyyy didn’t seem like music at all. For example, John Cage’s 4’33. Could something like 4 minutes and 33 seconds of utter silence be compared and held next to masterpieces like Bach’s symphonies or Chopin’s etudes? At first glance, of course not. However, it was through constant efforts by artists of different periods of times to continuously bring up this question of what is truly considered art. What are the parameters that considers something art? Is it the effort that was put into the project, or how much money the art piece will sell for, it is a very difficult concept to argue. However after reading and learning about Man Ray, it seems like Ray utilized his experience in the Dada movement to launch himself into a new genre of experimental art. I enjoyed his glass tears piece and the unique technique of altering photographs to create new outcomes. This made me realize that art where it seems like little to no effort is made (like Le Cadeau by Ray) is not the final outcome, but simply a challenge of what is considered normal art during the present time. During those times, art often required a purpose (advocate against racism, call out corruption, etc), but the Dada movement argued that art not always needed a functional or significant purpose. Sometimes, art could be an iron with nails sticking out, resulting in an utterly useless object.
December 18, 2017 at 5:39 pm
I recently learned about the Dada movement in Art History, so I thought your blog was informative in learning more about the movement and artists involved. I find it interesting that the Dada movement was essentially an anti-art movement, in which art was questioned and new, abstract forms were introduced. I learned how Man Ray entered this movement, and his original photograph which consisted of an object covered with an army tarp, covered with a string. I liked the way you highlighted certain quotes from Man that pertained to his career as an artist. I think you drew themes from his work very well; specifically the themes what is art and what is its purpose, and morals and norms tie very well to Man and the Dada movement he was a part of.