A short biography:
Man Ray was born on August 27, 1890, in Philadelphia, and moved to New York with his family seven years later. From 1909 to 1912 he studied at the Francisco Social Center Academy of Art, New York while frequently visiting Alfred Stieglitz's gallery "291". He attended classes at the Ferrer Center in 1912 for drawing and watercolors. Man Ray attempted to form an artist's commune in 1913 with the poet Alfred Kreymborg. He had his first solo show at the Daniel Gallery in New York in 1915, and around this time, he took up photography, the medium for which he is best known. By 1916, Ray's photography had come into full swing, and he founded the "society of Independent Artists" together with Marcel Duchamp and Walter Arensberg. In 1917, Man Ray created his first aerographs and went on to photographic and film experiments with duchamp in 1920.
Paris Sunset from the Louvre window
Metro de París
Rose Sélavy (Marcel Duchamp). 1921. Photograph by...In 1921, Ray invented the Rayographs and had his first important exibition in the "Librairie Six", Paris. In 1922, Ray began his work with nude photography, and takes photos for various magazines- fashion photos, and portraits. In 1923, Ray's first film was shown, "Le retour a la raison". In 1925, he took part in his first surrealist exhibition in the galerie Pierre, Paris, and was from then on associated with the surrealists. Man Ray's art did well, and he had many shows in both France and America. Ray began to get more and more involved with the surrealists and his works accompanied many poems and books. In 1940, Man Ray fled to the US, shortly before Germany's occupation of France and he had exhibitions in Los Angeles, San Franscisco, Santa Barbara, Pasadena, and New York. Man Ray returned to Paris in 1951, and in 1960, he had...