Untitled (plate 10) from the album Champs Délicieux
Man Ray (Emmanuel Radnitzky)
American, 1890–1976
1922
A gelatin-silver print made from a rayograph—a camera-less photogram in which Man Ray arranged objects directly on photosensitive paper to produce stark, abstract forms and surprising shadows.
You’re struck by luminous geometric planes and discs cutting through a deep black field, their sharp silhouettes and soft gray gradations hovering like architectural blades and floating cutouts.
An early Dada/Surrealist experiment, this rayograph challenged conventional photography by making arrangement, chance, and objecthood the subject, helping push the medium from representation toward abstraction and poetic invention.
Medium
Gelatin silver print after rayograph
Dimensions
8 7/8 × 6 3/4" (22.6 × 17.2 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Fund
Accession
253.1935.10
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
