# 4748f - 2013 First-Class Forever Stamp - Modern Art in America: Man Ray's "Noire et Blanche"

Issue Date: March 7, 2013
City: New York, NY

Quantity: 1,950,000
Printed By: Avery Dennison
Printing Method: Photogravure
Perforations: Serpentine Die Cut 10 1/2
Color: multicolored

Man Ray’s painting Noire et Blanche is one of twelve featured on the Modern Art in America: 1913-1931 stamps.

 

A successful career in fashion photography permitted Man Ray to explore his avant garde art in his personal time, including developing his own type of photography – “rayographs.”

 

Showing great artistic talent at an early age, Man Ray (1890-1976) was the son of a tailor. For much of his life he tried to separate himself from this aspect of his past, but despite his efforts, it showed through his work. Some historians have pointed out that his collage and painting techniques are quite similar to those used in tailoring.

 

Ray worked for a time as a commercial artist and illustrator before embracing the Dada style and creating art from found objects. In 1920, he helped found America’s first modern art museum in New York City. 

 

The following year he left for France, where he spent most of his life. There he established himself as a distinguished photographer, working for such high-profile clients as Vogue magazine. Thanks to his commercial success, he could afford to explore the Surrealist style on his own time. This included the re-invention of a photographic technique he called “rayographs.” These were photos made by placing and altering objects on photosensitive paper.

 

Ahead of his time, Ray’s work was the forerunner to the performance and conceptual art movements.