Skip to main content

Man Ray: The Painter


Promenade, 1941, oil on canvas.

Salvador Dali and Man Ray, 1934

Man Ray (1890 - 1976) was born in Philadelphia, PA but spent most of his artistic career in Paris and was identified strongly with the Dada and Surrealist movements.
Acclaimed primarily as a photographer he produced works in a variety of media and considered himself a painter above all else. Here is an example of his diverse body of paintings.

Pisces, 1938, oil on canvas. 

Don't put my name on it. These are simply documents I make.

The Rope Dancer Accompanies Herself with Her Shadows, 1916.

The Misunderstood, 1938

Man Ray

Hills, 1914, 26 x 30 cm.

I paint what cannot be photographed, that which comes from the imagination or from dreams, or from an unconscious drive.

Jazz, 1919, 71 x 55 cm.

Man Ray with, then partner, Adrienne Fidelin, ca. 1930's.

Of course, there will always be those who look only at technique, who ask 'how', while others of a more curious nature will ask 'why'. Personally, I have always preferred inspiration to information.

To me, a painter, if not the most useful, is the least harmful member of our society.


La Fortune, 1938

Still Life with Red Tea Kettle, 1913, 30 x 25 cm.

All critics should be assassinated. 

A Night at Saint Jean-de-Luz, 1929

Imaginary Portrait of the Marquis de Sade

There is no progress in art, any more than there is progress in making love. There are simply different ways of doing it.

Man Ray ca. 1932

Man Ray photographed by Lothar Wolleh in Paris, 1975.



*All images are © by their respective holders.




Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Justine Rivas at The Valley

Installation view: Justine Rivas, How to Carry a Cloud. Photo courtesy of The Valley   Justine Rivas: How to Carry a Cloud Up through August 7, 2021 The Valley 1800 Camino del La Placita, Unit D Taos, NM 87571 From the Press Release: The Valley is pleased to present its first solo exhibition with Los Angeles-based painter Justine Rivas . The exhibition, titled  How to carry a cloud,  includes a series of new paintings that explore hidden sources of water in the desert landscape. Rivas uses clouds and creosote bushes as metaphors for the interconnected sources of life-giving moisture in arid regions. Both reflect water stored in the land and the air, deceptively close and yet inaccessible. Cloud forms appear across several works, oscillating between pattern and landscape. As above, so below- creosote in its various forms appear as a familiar and familial plant speaking to the artists’ connection to the desert landscape, her family has lived in the borderlands since t...

Current Show at Galerie Victor Sfez - On View Through April 23

EXHIBITION OF 19 MARCH TO 23 April 2016 DANIEL G. HILL develops a sensitive geometry. He chooses fragile materials that he weaves, knots, suspends, sometimes playing with the influence of gravity, which he uses to his advantage. A keen observer, he seizes the moment and the detail to create work of unusual and poetic balance. JOCELYNE SANTOS is a color magician. As much in her paintings as in her sculptures, contrasting tones are juxtaposed with harmony, giving birth to unexpected chromatic variations. We never complete our discovery of her palette. New nuances invite surprise, illusions dazzle our eyes, and that which is hidden in the work ends up being its main concern. SHAWN STIPLING works with perception. Space is always present, suggested by clever crossings and misleading offsets that generate new virtual planes. The simplicity of his line is only an appearance: executed by hand, it still takes on a deliberately mechanical look. Confiding to us, the ...

Recent and Ongoing Painting in Long Island City and Brooklyn

Debra Ramsay and Sharon Brant at Key Projects May 11 - May 26, 2019 Sharon Brant and Debra Ramsay Debra Ramsay Debra Ramsay with work at Key Projects, 2019 Vincent Como at Minus Space May 4 - June 22, 2019 Installation view with some of the opening night crowd. Vincent Como at the opening of his exhibition The Negative Approach Operating System (For Intermediate to Advanced Practitioners) Len Bellinger and Denise Sfraga at M. David & Co. April 26 - June 2, 2019 Denise Sfraga and Len Bellinger at their concurrent solo exhibitions at M. David & Co. Len Bellinger Len Bellinger Len Bellinger: installation view Len Bellinger (detail) Denise Sfraga Denise Sfraga: installation grouping. Denise Sfraga Denise Sfraga: installation view.