Man Ray

American and French visual artist (1890–1976)

Fame59.9
Momentum2.1
Artists rank#214

Source-basedStable

Fame59.9
Momentum2.1
Artists rank#214
Wikipedia46.7K

Lived 1890–1976, aged 86United States

United States ArtistsArtist

Wikipedia
61 languages
Cross-language footprint
Era
1890–1976
Aged 86
Known for
Entr'acte
1924

Summary

Updated 2026-06-11

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.

Biography

About

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…

Voice

In their own words

Sourced, dated quotes from Man Ray

Man Ray

said1973

An original is a creation motivated by desire. Any reproduction of an original is motivated by necessity.

— "Originals Graphics Multiples" (1973)

Man Ray

said1971

All critics should be assassinated.

— As quoted in Bartlett's Unfamiliar Quotations (1971) edited by Leonard Louis Levinson

Man Ray

said1966

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".

— As quoted in Photographers on Photography : A Critical Anthology (1966) by Nathan Lyons, p. 80

Man Ray

said1963

There is … your high bridge in Pasadena from which every once in a while someone jumps off, committing suicide. There is no question of removing the bridge.

— In response to criticism of controversial paintings, in Self Portrait (1963), p. 342

Man Ray

said1963