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Man Ray, whose real name is Emmanuel Radnitsky, was born in Philadelphia on August 27, 1890 but spent his youth in Brooklyn. His training at the Modern School at the Ferrer Center in Manhattan and then in Harlem frees him very early from established rules and allows him to choose innovation in all fields. He consi- ders painting, photography and film as the tools of his personal expression and of his immense creativity, refusing to prioritize their techniques, playing with all of them, prisoner of none.
Actor of Dadaism in New York then of surrealism in Paris, this son of a tailor fas- cinated the field of fashion from 1921 by the modernity of his aesthetics. Upon his arrival in France, his friend Marcel Duchamp introduced him to the artistic world of Montparnasse. He frequents Aragon, Breton, Eluard and Gala at the Bal des Beaumont and at the cabaret «Le Bœuf sur le Toit». At this time, he fell in love with the French singer and model Kiki de Montparnasse. His meeting with Paul Poiret seals his passion for fashion. Her original works, both in their technique and in the humor and poetry they exude, feature the models of Poiret, Chanel and Schiaparelli in the pages of Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and Vanity Fair.
Pierre Rocher, Marcel Duchamp’s agent, is close to Nicole Groult, sister of Paul Poiret and lover of Marie Laurencin. He lends the money to Man Ray to open his photography studio and, in return, he develops the erotic photographs of this small circle as creative as libertine.His fame is growing and his works are presented at the first surrealist exhibition of the Pierre gallery in Paris in 1925 alongside Pablo Picasso, Joan Miro, Jean Arp and Max Ernst. The great artists of his time, from Jean Cocteau to James Joyce via Gertrude Stein, pose in front of his lens.
Man ray
The Hair 1929 gelatin silver print, late print 28.7 x 19.5 Milan, Fondazione Marconi
© private collection, courtesy Fondazione Marconi © Man Ray 2015 Trust / Adagp, Paris 2020