Man Ray is, without a doubt, one of the most influential figures in 20th-century art history. He was among the first to embrace photography as an actual creative medium, by realising iconic works that became symbolic milestones in the evolution of modern art. 

The retrospective scheduled from September 2025 at Palazzo Reale will allow the public to follow the biographical stages and career of the artist, thanks to works from the Lucien Treillard collection, Man Ray's assistant and last collaborator. 

Through this important nucleus of original materials (vintage prints, negatives, collages, documents), it is possible to illustrate Man Ray’s history, from his birth (1890, Philadelphia), to the New York milieu where he discovered the European avant-garde movements and struck up a friendship with Marcel Duchamp, to his Parisian landing in 1921. In Paris he was welcomed by the poets André Breton, Louis Aragon, Paul Éluard and then met the singer and model Kiki de Montparnasse – his beloved and muse creating immortal photographs, such as Noire et blanche or Le Violon d’Ingres. 

He would later dedicate himself to the fashion world and to the development of his renowned “rayographs” and “solarizations”. He returned to the United States in 1940 and then back to Paris in 1951, where he remained until his death in 1976. 

Through a thematic journey (self-portraits, muses, nudes, rayographs and solarizations, fashion), this exhibition offers the rediscovery of a truly one-of-a-kind artist and brilliant pioneer.

An exhibition by the Municipality of Milan - Culture Area | Palazzo Reale | Silvana Editoriale

Curated by Pierre-Yves Butzbach e Robert Rocca