‘Man Ray, African Art And The Modernist Lens’ At The Phillips Collection

Man Ray (1890–1978), the enfant terrible of American Modernism, made his greatest contribution to the movement through his pioneering photographs of African masks, headdresses and figures. These images influenced the work of European and American avant-garde artists, and promoted appreciation of African objects as works of art. Man Ray’s Modernist photographic aesthetic had a significant impact on ways in which African art was interpreted at the beginning of the Twentieth Century. Man Ray was part of a movement between the world wars in which photography emerged as a major vehicle of creative expression. The developing medium was embraced by artists on both sides of the Atlantic in search of new art forms that responded to the profound social upheavals of the era. Man Ray led the way in introducing radical approaches to the art of photography. His achievements as avant-garde provocateur and gifted photographer are celebrated in “Man Ray, African Art and the Modernist Lens,” on view at The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C., through January 10. ...Read More