"You can say that I'm a retired banjo player, or a former chewing gum executive, or a retired coal dealer. It doesn't matter about me; the important thing is my painting."

Man Ray's work--in painting, photography, sculpture, assemblage, and film--is among the most surprising and shocking of the modern era. In addition to pushing the creative envelope, he also made many technical advances in the use of photography; one such process was named the Rayograph in his honor. Mysterious, witty, and erotic, his creations embody the challenge to institutional art that was characterized by the styles known as surrealism and dadaism.

The son of Russian immigrants, Man Ray was born Emmanuel Rudnitzky on August 27, 1890, in Philadelphia, but after his family gave him the nickname Man Ray he never used any other. The Rudnitzky clan moved from Philadelphia to Brooklyn, New York, when Man Ray was seven. Man Ray...