Électricité
Artist
Man Ray
(American, 1890-1976)
Publisher
La Compagnie Parisienne de Distribution d'Électricité
CultureAmerican
Date1931
MediumPhotogravure
DimensionsOverall, Image: 10 1/4 x 8 in. (26 x 20.3 cm)
Overall, Support: 14 3/4 x 10 7/8 in. (37.5 x 27.6 cm)
Overall, Mat: 24 × 20 in. (61 × 50.8 cm)
Overall, Support: 14 3/4 x 10 7/8 in. (37.5 x 27.6 cm)
Overall, Mat: 24 × 20 in. (61 × 50.8 cm)
Credit LineMuseum purchase, in memory of Alice R. and Sol B. Frank, and gift of Decipher, Inc.
Object number98.30.6
Not on view
Label TextMan Ray (Emmanuel Radnitsky)
American (1890-1976)
Électricité, from the portfolio Électricité, 1931
Photogravure
Purchase, gift of Decipher, Inc., and in memory of Alice R. and Sol B. Frank 98.30.6
Just as Man Ray was influenced by his associations with DuChamp, Dadaism, Cubism, and Surrealism, so were his own artworks difficult to categorize. He made photographs, films, paintings, and found-object sculptures with interchangeable fluency and innovative skill. Within photography, his series of "Rayograms" - objects placed on photographic paper and exposed to light - and solarized portraits distinguished him as one of the medium's unique, iconoclastic talents.
His most significant work was created while living in Paris in the 1920s and 1930s. In 1931, a French electric company commissioned him to create a portfolio of Rayograms promoting the use of their product. Entitled Électricité, the portfolio contained ten photogravure plates in an edition of 500.
Edited By: GLY
Edited Date: 09/2004
Approved By: MHM
Approval Date: 09/21/2005Exhibition History"Man Ray's `Électricité,'" Alice R. and Sol B. Frank Photography Galleries, Chrysler Museum of Art, September 23, 1999-January 2, 2000.
"History of Photography," Alice R. and Sol B. Frank Photography Galleries, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Va, Fall, 2001.
"Photography Speaks," Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Va., Alice R. and Sol B. Frank Photo Galleries, September 4, 2004 - January 2, 2005.
"Twilight Visions: Surrealism, Photography, and Paris," The Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville, TN, September 10, 2009 - January 3, 2010; International Center of Photography, New York, NY, January 29 - May 9, 2010; the Telfair Museum of Art, Savannah, GA, June 10 - October 10, 2010.Published ReferencesTheresa Lichtenstein, _Twilight Visions: Surrealism and Paris_, exh. cat., (Berkley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2009), 183.
