ManRay(1890-1976)wasapolymathmodernist,workinginpainting,sculpture,film,printmaking,andpoetry.Butitwashisworkinphotography,withnudestudies,fashionwork,andportraiturethatsawhimpioneeringanewchapterinthehistoryofcameraworkandart.Withawide-rangingcollectionofbothhisfamousandlesser-knownworks,thismonographgivesavividoverviewofManRay’smultifacetedpracticeandphotographiclegacy.IttracesRayfromhisartisticbeginningsinNewYorkthroughtohiscentralroleintheParisianavant-garde,wherehefeaturedinthefirstSurrealistexhibitionwithJeanArp,MaxErnst,Andr矇Masson,JoanMir籀,andPabloPicassoandproducedsuchnowiconicworksasNoireetblancheandLeViolond’Ingres.Throughnumerousexamplesofstilllife,portraiture,andbeyond,weseehowRayconstantlyexperimentedwithnewtechniques,pushingphotographyoutofitsdocumentarydomainintoethereal,poeticexpressionsthroughmultipleexposure,solarization,andtheparticularbrandofphotogramshewittilytermed“rayography.“
