Man Ray: The Graphic Work (1914-1976)

Abstract

This dissertation is a comprehensive analysis of the prints produced by Man Ray (1890-1976) over a period of sixty-two years. It is the first in-depth look at Man Ray within the context of 20th century printmaking traditions. The graphic work in this study includes over three hundred wood block prints, lithographs, screenprints, etchings, cliché verre prints, aquatints, dry points, pochoir prints, and photogravures. These prints appear in a variety of formats: individually, in illustrated books, in portfolios, and in group editions with other artists. The totality of these works offers an unexplored pathway to a reappraisal of the artist by contextualizing his graphic work in relationship with his other work, including his painting, drawing, collage, photography and three-dimensional objects.

Once the location was determined, Man Ray’s graphic work was examined, documented and interpreted. The prints and illustrated books were studied in situ in the United States, France, Italy, Israel, and Spain, along with the supporting documentation. The work was found in museums, library collections and archives, art galleries, and private collections. An ongoing internet search over the past five years also located material that would have been impossible to find otherwise. The compiled information was transferred to a detailed data base designed specifically for this purpose. The result is the most complete inventory of Man Ray’s graphic work in existence.

This study includes an exhibition history of Man Ray’s graphic work exhibitions, reproducing the exhibition catalogue covers. Man Ray’s experimental approach to printmaking included his use of a wide range of techniques and the use of new materials, such as plastics, in his work. Man Ray’s prints of the 1970s show foresight about the direction in which printmaking was to move, with an acceptance of photomechanical methods that had been discarded by the previous generation of printmakers. Of particular significance are Man Ray’s screenprints from 1966, printed on cast acrylic sheeting, an innovation that was later attributed to emerging Pop artists.

In conclusion, printmaking was an integral part of Man Ray’s opus. Every aspect of his artistic output was concurrent, so that no one medium, be it photography or printmaking or painting, can be fully appreciated without understanding that symbiotic relationship. Using printmaking techniques, Man Ray repeated and reproduced his key ideas in this medium. This repetition of themes was a conscious decision on the part of the artist. His interdisciplinary approach to creating his graphic work is a clear predecessor to late twentieth century contemporary art traditions that favored concept over laborious execution. Prints, as a medium, gave Man Ray a means of freely expressing his ideas and disseminating them to a wide audience throughout his entire career.

La presente tesis doctoral se centra en el análisis y la interpretación de los grabados realizados por el artista Man Ray (1890-1976) a lo largo de su vida.

Se entiende por obra gráfica la obra estampada e impresa, y se incluyen los livres d’artiste (los libros ilustrados) con imágenes de Man Ray. Hasta esta investigación, no ha habido un análisis global de la producción gráfica de Man Ray, ni como artista individual, ni en relación con el contexto histórico en que se desarrolló. El objetivo de la investigación es conocer el alcance y la importancia de estas obras y su impacto sobre la obra global del artista y sobre la historia del grabado del siglo XX.

La documentación procede principalmente de museos, bibliotecas, galerías, Internet y colecciones privadas. Las obras han sido estudiadas in situ en España, Estados Unidos, Francia, Israel e Italia. Después de la fase de consulta y recogida de información, se ha iniciado la fase de sistematización de los datos en una base de datos, diseñada y desarrollada específicamente para esta investigación.

He localizado catálogos de exposición donde figuran la obra gráfica y livres d’artiste y he compilado una historia de las exposiciones de la obra gráfica de Man Ray entre los años 1915 y 1976. El carácter experimental de Man Ray permitió que se utilizaran diversas técnicas del grabado como la xilografía, litografía, serigrafía, aguafuerte, cliché verre, pochoir y fotograbado. Cabe resaltar su exploración de nuevos materiales, como sus serigrafías impresas sobre metacrilato en 1966, innovación que posteriormente se atribuiría a los artistas emergentes del Pop Art.

Se puede concluir que el conjunto de toda la obra gráfica localizada y estudiada de Man Ray fue una parte esencial de su opus durante sesenta y dos años. Man Ray repetía y reproducía en grabado sus propias ideas que había plasmado con antelación en pintura, dibujo, collage, fotografía y objetos. Esta repetición de temas fue una decisión consciente por parte del artista y el grabado, como medio, le dio una libertad de expresión para reproducir sus ideas durante toda su trayectoria artística.