Man Ray: The Paris Years

Exhibition at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, 30 October 2021 - 21 February 2022

Shortly after his arrival in Paris in July 1921, Man Ray (1890-1976) embarked on a series of portraits that established his reputation as one of the leading photographers of his time. Man Ray's subjects included such cultural luminaries as André Breton, Jean Cocteau, Marcel Duchamp, Ernest Hemingway, Miriam Hopkins, James Joyce, Lee Miller, Méret Oppenheim, Pablo Picasso, Alice Prin (Kiki de Montparnasse), Elsa Schiaparelli, Erik Satie and Gertrude Stein.

As this lavishly illustrated exhibition catalogue shows, Man Ray's portraits went beyond the mere outward appearance of the person portrayed and aimed instead to capture the essence of his models as creative individuals, as well as the collective nature and character of the Roaring Twenties in Paris between the two world wars.