Author Description

Man Ray (American, 1890-1976) delighted in astounding viewers with his art. Throughout his long career he juxtaposed familiar elements in incongruous ways. His ideas were not constrained by the boundaries of any particular medium - he made photographs, paintings, assemblages, drawings, sculptures, and films. This volume concentrates on his photographs. The approximately fifty images reproduced in In Focus: Man Ray are drawn from the J. Paul Getty Museum's collection of three hundred prints by the artist. The plates are accompanied by commentaries written by Katherine Ware, Assistant Curator in the Museum's Department of Photographs. Following the plate section is an edited transcript of a 1996 colloquium on Man Ray. Participants in the conversation include Ms. Ware as well as Jo Ann Callis, David Featherstone, Merry Foresta, Weston Naef, Francis Naumann, and Dickran Tashjian. A chronological overview of the artist's life concludes the book.