Man Ray
'Man Ray', 1965, gelatin silver photograph
Photographer: Yousuf Karsh
© Estate of Yousuf Karsh
Born Emmanuel Radnitsky in Philadelphia in 1890, Man Ray was raised in New York, where he began his artistic career. He was a regular at Alfred Stieglitz’s Gallery 291, and attended classes at the Ferrer Centre before meeting Marcel Duchamp, who was to become a lifelong friend and collaborator. With Duchamp, Man Ray founded the Society of Independent Artists in 1916 and published the pamphlet New York Dada in 1920. In the same year the artist created his famous readymade The enigma of Isidore Ducasse, followed in 1921 by Cadeau, both of which feature in the National Gallery’s collection.
In 1921 Man Ray relocated to Paris. It was here, among the artists of the bohemian Montparnasse district, that he began to work in the Surrealist style of photography for which he is best known. In 1966 Man Ray created two screen prints and a lithograph at Gemini GEL after visiting the studio out of interest while setting up his retrospective at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The three screen prints Untitled, Hands, and One hand, are based on the artist’s signature ‘rayograms’.
Emilie Owens
Chronology
1890 Born Emmanuel Radnitzky in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America
1897 Family relocates to New York
1911 Begins to frequent Alfred Stieglitz’s gallery, Gallery 291, where he is exposed to the work of European contemporary artists including Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, and the innovative photography of Stieglitz himself.
1912 Attends classes at the Ferrer Center. Provoked by racial prejudice, the Radnitzky family changes their surname to Ray. Around this time Emmanuel adopts the name ‘Man’, believed to stem from the childhood nickname ‘Manny’. For the rest of his life he is known only as Man Ray.
1913 Attends exhibition, The armory show, where he sees Marcel Duchamp’s work for the first time. Duchamp and Man Ray were to become lifelong friends and collaborators.
1915 First solo show of drawings and paintings at Daniel Gallery, New York. Publishes Dadaist pamphlet, The Ridgefield Gazook
1916 Founds the Society of Independent Artists with Duchamp and Walter Arensberg
1920 Founds the Société Anonyme with Duchamp, Henry Hudson, Katherine Dreier and Andrew McLaren. Publishes New York Dada with Duchamp. Creates readymade, The enigma of Isidore Ducasse
1921 Creates readymade, Cadeau [Gift]. Moves to Paris, France and settles in the bohemian Montparnasse district. Man Ray stays in this district for the next twenty years and develops his signature avant-garde style of photography.
1922 Begins making ‘rayographs’, his unique version of the photogram. Included in exhibition, Salon Dada, Galerie Montaigne, Paris
1923 Makes film, Le retour à la raison
1924 Starts working as a fashion photographer for the magazine Vogue
1925 Included in the first Surrealist exhibition, La peinture Surrealiste, Gallerie Pierre, Paris
1924 Starts working as a fashion photographer for the magazineVogue
1925 Included in the first Surrealist exhibition, La peinture Surrealiste, Gallerie Pierre, Paris
1926 Makes film, Emak Bakia
1927 Solo exhibition, Recent painting and photographic compositions, Daniel Gallery, New York
1928 Starts working as a fashion photographer for the magazine Vu. Makes film, L’Etoile de mer
1929 Makes film, Les Mystères du Chateau de Dé
1932 Included in exhibitions, Dada, 1916 – 1932, Galerie de l’Institut, Paris; Surrealist exhibition, Julien Levy gallery, New York
1935 Starts working as a fashion photographer for the magazine Harper’s Bazaar
1936 Included in exhibition, Fantastic art, Dada, Surrealism, Museum of Modern Art, New York
1940 Beginning of World War II prompts return to the United States
1944 Solo exhibition, Man Ray: retrospective exhibition, 1913 to 1944, Pasadena Art Institute, Los Angeles
1951 Returns to Paris
1961 Included in the Venice Biennale, and is awarded the Gold Medal for photography
1962 Solo exhibition, Man Ray, l’oeuvre photographique, Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris
1963 Publishes autobiography, Self Portrait
1966 Produces screenprints Hands and One hand, and lithograph Untitled at Gemini GEL, Los Angeles. Solo exhibition, Man Ray, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles
1976 Represented at theVenice Biennale by the solo exhibition, Man Ray, l’immagine fotografica, Venice. Man Ray died in Paris on November 18.
Emilie Owens, 2007
This chronology provides an overview of selected biographical information, major solo and group exhibitions held within the artist's own lifetime.
Further Reading
NATIONAL GALLERY PUBLICATIONS
- Workshop: The Kenneth Tyler Collection, Jane Kinsman (ed.), 2015
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Published 24 February 2020
