Man Ray

American and French visual artist (1890-1976) · United States · Artists · Died at 86

Man Ray is read about 1,450 times a day, in 61 languages.

A typical day, 30 days to 15 October 2026

The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 390 days, one point a day.

Something wrong?

Compare

He turned darkroom accidents into a signature medium, renamed photograms after himself, and moved between Dada and Surrealism without signing up for either - a painter who became famous for the photographs he claimed were secondary.

Artists Actor Television Photography Screenwriting Painting Stand Up Movies

A life in dates

1976Died18 November 19761973“An original is a creation motivated by desire. Any reproduction of an original is motivated by necessity.”In their words"Originals Graphics Multiples" (1973)Read the whole statement

1966“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".”In their wordsAs quoted in Photographers on Photography : A Critical Anthology (1966) by Nathan Lyons, p. 80Read the whole statement

1963“A creator needs only one enthusiast to justify him.”In their wordsSelf Portrait (1963), p. 352Read the whole statement

1948“There is no progress in art, any more than there is progress in making love. There are simply different ways of doing it.”In their words"To Be Continued, Unnoticed" (1948)Read the whole statement

1945“It has never been my object to record my dreams, just the determination to realize them.”In their wordsApril 1945Julien Levy exhibition catalog (April 1945)Read the whole statement

1922“I have finally freed myself from the sticky medium of paint, and am working directly with light itself.”In their words5 April 1922Man Ray to Ferdinand Howard, April 5, 1922, as quoted in Conversion to Modernism: The Early Work of Man Ray (2003) by Francis M. NaumannRead the whole statement

1890Born27 August 1890

Also in Deutsch

Photos 8

Man Ray Salvador Dali (cropped)

'Cadeau' by Man Ray, iron and nails, Tate Modern

1910 United States Federal Census - New York - Kings - Brooklyn - Ward 27 - District 0812

1920 United States Census - New York, New York - Manhattan - Assembly District 10 - District 0714

Alias Man Ray Exhibition at The Jewish Museum New York

Café Man Ray (1968) - Man Ray (1890 - 1976) (23464981861)

Castiglione Olona - Palazzo dei Castiglioni di Monteruzzo 0191

Chess Set Man Ray

In their own words 10

Man Ray

10 statements, newest first

An original is a creation motivated by desire. Any reproduction of an original is motivated by necessity.
1973, "Originals Graphics Multiples" (1973), Own words
All critics should be assassinated.
1971, As quoted in Bartlett's Unfamiliar Quotations (1971) edited by Leonard Louis Levinson, Own words
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".
1966, As quoted in Photographers on Photography : A Critical Anthology (1966) by Nathan Lyons, p. 80, Own words

Wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0

Family

Parents

Man Ray

Partners

Is this everyone?

Only relatives with a profile here are drawn, so a family can be larger than this. A line here can also be wrong.

Correct this family

About this person

Emmanuel Radnitzky was born in Brooklyn in August 1890 and crossed the Atlantic to settle in Paris, where he spent most of his working life and eventually took French citizenship. He orbited the Dada and Surrealist circles without formal membership, keeping one foot out even as he shaped both movements. He worked across media - painting, sculpture, film - but always insisted painting was his true calling, even as his fashion shoots and portraits paid the bills and his rayographs, cameraless images made by placing objects on light-sensitive paper, secured his place in the canon. He died in Paris in November 1976, having spent decades insisting the world had it backward about what mattered in his work.

Country

United States

In common with Man

Pablo PicassoAlso in La Garoupe (1937)

Marcel DuchampAlso in Entr'acte (1924)

Tristan TzaraAlso in Dadascope (1962)

Francis PicabiaAlso in Entr'acte (1924)

Alice PrinAlso in Return to Reason (1923)Hans RichterAlso in Dadascope (1962)

Fame.am measures public visibility signals. It does not measure human value, talent, morality, or credibility.