The great exhibition primarily features photographs, negatives, vintage prints, and collages
At the Palazzo Reale, the solo exhibition of Man Ray titled “Forms of Light” will be inaugurated (curated by Pierre-Yves Butzbach and Robert Rocca, 24/09-11/01/2026). The exhibition will showcase original materials, primarily photographs, negatives, vintage prints, collages, and documents.
Born in 1890 in Philadelphia as Emmanuel Radnitzky, Man Ray also ventured into painting, sculpture, and filmmaking. From his debut in New York with his first solo show in 1915, he became one of the main protagonists of American Dadaism alongside his friend Marcel Duchamp. After relocating to Paris in the 1920s, he focused on photography. It was during this period that he created his series of Rayographs: abstract images made without a camera by placing objects between a light source and photosensitive paper. The results were images with geometric patterns and mysterious shapes.
Painter, sculptor, and filmmaker, Man Ray gained fame as a photographer with the series of Rayographs
Welcomed with enthusiasm by the artistic community of the Ville Lumière, Man Ray became one of the most original representatives of that fertile era, suspended between Dadaism and Surrealism, and also succeeded in establishing himself as a portrait photographer (some of his most famous portraits include those of Salvador Dalí, Joan Miró, Ernest Hemingway, Ezra Pound, and Balthus).
At the same time, his gaze focused on the female body and its sensuality. Les Violon d’Ingres (1924) depicts the Parisian singer Alice Ernestine Prin, better known as Kiki de Montparnasse, a key figure of the bohemian lifestyle and the photographer's companion. She is shown in black and white, sitting perhaps on the edge of a bed, her back naked down to her hips, partially draped in damask fabric; her face, partially covered by a turban, is seen only in profile. On her back, the artist has drawn the two resonating holes of a violin, the classic f-shaped side openings, as though the woman herself were a musical instrument.
In 1920s Paris, he established himself as a portrait photographer
Equally famous is the photograph Noire et Blanche (1926), where the beloved Kiki appears with her smooth, pale face gently resting on a drape, her left hand supporting an ebony African mask. Instinctively, one might think of the contrast between different worlds and cultures, though perhaps the true protagonist is the dream, a theme dear to the Surrealists, as suggested by the closed eyes of the two female faces, communicating directly with the unconscious.
Man Ray attracted the attention of the greatest fashion designers of the time. Soon, he received commissions from Vogue, Vanity Fair and Harper’s Bazaar. Les larmes (1932) advertises a mascara by Arlette Bernard, encouraging women to cry freely in any situation without fear of ruining their makeup. And, in fact, the tears remain perfectly intact, like water droplets on glass.
With the outbreak of World War II, the artist returned to the United States, but he never stopped loving Paris, where he would return after the war and eventually pass away in 1976.
Among his favorite subjects was Kiki de Montparnasse, a key figure of the bohemian scene and his companion
Man Ray
Forme di luce
Milan
Palazzo Reale
Curated By
Pierre-Yves Butzbach
Robert Rocca
24/09 - 11/01/2026
