Man Ray, Forme de Luce (1890 – 1976) Palazzo Reale (Milan) 24/09/2025-11/01/2

Man Ray, Forme de Luce (1890 – 1976)

Palazzo Reale (Milan) 09/24/2025-01/11/2026

Curator: Pierre-Yves Butzbach - Robert Rocca

Man Ray occupies a prominent place in the history of 20th-century art. A pioneer, he was one of the first to use photography not as a simple means of reproduction, but as a true creative medium in its own right, transforming this technique into an art form. Some of his photographs have become iconic and essential. Man Ray arrived in Paris from New York in July 1921. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on August 18, 1890, to Jewish parents of Russian origin, Emmanuel Radnitsky changed his name to a two-syllable pseudonym: "Man" (short for Manny, his childhood nickname) and "Ray" (ray of light). In New York, he frequented intellectual and artistic circles, discovered the European avant-garde, and became friends with Marcel Duchamp. A painter, draftsman, and assembler of objects, he had first approached photography by reproducing his own works and those of his artist friends, painting their portraits.

Introduced to Paris by Marcel Duchamp, he was welcomed by the poets André Breton, Philippe Soupault, Louis Aragon, Paul Éluard, and Robert Desnos. He settled in Montparnasse, where he met and fell in love with the French singer and model Alice Prin (Kiki de Montparnasse), who became his muse. For seven years, they produced photographs that would become world-famous works such as Black and White and The Violon d'Ingres. She appeared in three films directed by Man Ray: The Return to Reason in 1923, Emak Bakia in 1926, and The Starfish in 1928.

In 1922, following his meeting with the couturier Paul Poiret, he took numerous fashion photographs, notably for and with Elsa Schiaparelli, images that were published in numerous magazines. He worked with light by exposing various objects directly onto the sensitive surface, a process Tristan Tzara called "rayographs," and in 1929, with his new partner Lee Miller, they developed the technique of "solarization."

In 1933, he and his new partner, Lee Miller, produced the series of photographs titled "Erotic-Veiled," which would become famous. In 1934, he met Adrienne Fidelin, who became his companion, model, and muse. In 1940, after the defeat of France, Man Ray sailed for the United States and met Juliet Browner, who would become his wife and model. He returned to Paris in 1951, where he died in 1976.

Man Ray reinvented techniques such as the rayogram and solarization, revolutionizing the art of portraiture and fashion photography. His work continues to inspire and fascinate, testifying to his creative genius and his lasting influence on 20th-century art.

Through a thematic exhibition featuring 300 works, the Palazzo Reale retraces Man Ray's career, highlighting his major contributions to photography and modern art.

> Self-portraits. Man Ray liked to portray himself in his photographs, often in disguise or cross-dressing.

> Muses: The six main women, companions, or friends who inspired Man Ray (Kiki de Montparnasse, Lee Miller, Nusch Eluard, Meret Oppenheim, and Ady and Juliet).

> Celebrity Portraits: Between 1922 and 1940, Man Ray photographed his artist friends, writers, musicians, and then all of Paris.

> Rayographs: Man Ray developed an innovative technique in which objects were exposed directly onto photosensitive paper. He perfectly mastered the effects by playing with the transparency of the objects used, moving the light source during the exposure, etc. In 1931, with his companion Lee Miller, he produced an Electricité advertising album of 10 rayographs for the Paris Electricity Company.

> Cinema: Man Ray is recognized as an avant-garde filmmaker with his four major films: Retour à la raison (1922), Emak Bakia (1926), and L’Etoile de Mer (The Starfish). (1928) and The Mysteries of the Castle of the Dice (1929). He defined himself as the "Director of Bad Movies."

> Fashion: From 1921, Man Ray proposed a new and modern aesthetic of fashion photography, characterized by technical inventiveness, freedom, and humor. He collaborated with, among others, couturiers Paul Poiret, Jean-Charles Worth, Elsa Schiaparelli, Coco Chanel, and others.

> Multiples: Almost all of Man Ray's multiples were reworked from earlier works (oils, gouaches, drawings, collages, photographs, objects), and ready-made objects, reprinted in editions of a few copies. Like the other Dadaists, he was completely indifferent to the fact that a work of art was unique.

> Nudes: Women were, for Man Ray, an inexhaustible source of inspiration. In his work, while the female body