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Born Emmanuel Radnitzky, Man Ray gr
ew up in America but spent most of his working days in Migr, in Paris France. Working in many aspects of media, Man Ray’s art included paintings, sculptures, college, constructed objects and photography. Beginning his professional art carreer in 1921, he was commisioned for many portraits and commercial work that was well recieved and published in such magazines as Vogue and Vanity Faire.
Man Ray was an american, but lived and worked in Paris from 1921 to 1940. Such artists like Lee Miller, Picasso, and Salvador Dali were umong his colleagues, during his early working days. A member of the Dada community, and the only American within the movement, he considered himself as an artist and thought of photography as a form of artistic expression, when used for more than reprodction. When describing his work, Man Ray once said “I paint what cannot be photographed. I photograph what I do not wish to paint”.
Les Mains Libres – 1937.
During the 30’s Man ray produced many drawings while in Paris or travelling around in the south of France. Man Ray showed these images to Eulard Paul, who asked him to leave the images with him. Man Ray left for the south of france a for a few weeks, and on his return to Paris, he found that had “illustrated” each drawing, with a poem. This new proof of Eulard’s esteem resulted in the publication of Les Mains Libres, a book in which over 60 pen and ink drawings are reproduced, fifty four of these drawings sit opposite Eulard’s poems.
In 1938 Man Ray produced La Fortune, which depicts a giant billiard table that projects into a sky, strooned with candy floss like clouds. This image is a classical example, of the depths of surrealism, leaving any logic and thought behind, and concentrating on the moment, which is I think Man Ray was thinking when composing this piece. The mere thought of “I’m going to paint a billiards table, shooting towards the sky….. oh and the clouds need to be different colours” is the very definition of surrealism.
La Fortune – 1938
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