The art of surrealism can be vividly defined as eccentric, unusual, and out of the ordinary. It is the depiction of ordinary things and turning them into artistic images that can only be described to be imaginary. Such surreal artworks would require the artist to possess great talent and a playful mind and it can be applied on canvas or even into photographs. In this article, we are going to explore the life of Man Ray, an artist, photographer, and one of the pioneers of the surrealist and the dada movement. This article aims to provide useful information into knowing his contributions that made Surrealism and art photography the well established modern art themes of today.
Knowing The Visionary Man Ray:
Man Ray was born Emmanuel Radnitzky on August 27 of 1890. He belonged in a family of Jewish immigrants from Russia who moved to the United States. He grew up in the suburbs of Brooklyn where the discrimination against the Jews were very prevalent during that time. This is the reason why his family changed their last name into 'Ray' in order to avoid social prejudice. And because he was fondly called "Manny" by his family and peers, his name was eventually changed into 'Man', thus earning his then famous name.
Man Ray developed artistic as well as mechanical abilities that were very evident during his teenage years. He had a firm background in technical drawing that he was even offered a scholarship to study architecture, but he decided to pursue his dream of becoming a successful artist one day. Much to the dismay of his family, they remained supportive of his decision and arranged one of the rooms of their house to be Man Ray's studio. He had such passion for art that even took time to visit museums to study the works of the Old Masters. Aside from that, he grew fonder of art because of the influence of Picasso and the befriending of Marcel Duchamp. His day jobs were being a technical illustrator and a commercial artist to some companies in Manhattan. He did these jobs to earn money while harnessing his artistic skills at the same time.
His assertive means of loving art drove him to experiment on different art themes. In 1914, he married Adon Lacroix who is a Belgian poet, but the marriage only lasted for another 5 years and they got separated. Man Ray then decided to be more focused on his work along with his friends, Marcel Duchamp and Francis Picabia. The 3 pals soon became the precursors of Dadaism in New York. The name of the movement was derived from the French word which means "rocking horse" and their goal was to transcend over established notions in art and encourage spontaneity. One of the famous works of Man Ray during this period was "The Gift". It was a sculpture made from a household iron and glued tacks on a vertical position on its flat surface. The culture received both praise and criticisms form art experts.
Ray then moved to Paris in 1921 to continue his innovative art works and developed an interest in photography. He then became a fashion photographer and had took pictures for Vogue and other famous magazines of that time. His commercial work paved way for the recognition of his fine art activities. One of his renowned art pieces during this time is the "Violin d'Ingres", a modified photo of his girlfriend, Kiki with 2 black drawings on the back to make her look like a violin. This was also the period when Ray discovered an new way to create interesting photographs by accident and he called this photos as "Rayographs". This is a type of photograph made by placing and rearranging objects on top of photosensitive paper. Man Ray also ventured into film to try his artistic style and he was able to create "L'Etoile de Mer" which is one of his distinguished surrealistic works. Moreover, he was also able to create a technique called the "Sabatier effect" or solarization in which a ghostly or silvery image will be added to the film or the photograph. He moved to California in times of war and continued doing his works and married Juliet Browner 3 years after he had finalized his divorce with his first wife.
He went back to Paris in 1951 and continued doing his artistic works until he died on November 18, 1976.
Conclusion:
Man Ray had wits and confidence to create a modern artistic style and the realm of art will forever thank him because of this. Even if he was considered to be a brilliant artistic mind, his works were not really appreciated in his lifetime. Nonetheless, he's a distinct artist because of his Avant-garde efforts.
To know more about the life and painting of May Ray, please visit us at http://www.manray.net/.
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