Man Ray American, 1890-1976

Man Ray was a key figure of Dada and Surrealism, one of the few Americans associated with either movement. Born Emmanuel Radnitzky, the artist adopted his pseudonym in 1909 and - while he also worked across painting, sculpture, video, and printmaking - became renowned for his striking, sensual black-and-white photographs. Man Ray also embraced technical experimentation; he used solarization and made Rayographs (an eponym for his photograms) as he pushed the boundaries of avant-garde photography.

Man Ray is represented in the collections of such institutions as the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art (via Artsy).