From September 24, 2025, to January 11, 2026, Palazzo Reale in Milan will host Man Ray. Forms of Light, anextensive retrospective dedicated to one of the great protagonists of 20th century art. Man Ray, a visionary innovator of visual languages, left an indelible imprint that still influences photography, art, design and contemporary culture today. His works, steeped in irony, elegance, provocation and free spirit, retain an extraordinary relevance and testify to the essential role the artist played in transforming the boundaries of modern art.
Promoted by the Municipality of Milan - Culture and realized by Palazzo Reale in collaboration with Silvana Editoriale, it is curated by Pierre-Yves Butzbach and Robert Rocca, and is part of the program of theMilan Cortina 2026 Cultural Olympiad, the multidisciplinary and widespread project that will cross Italy, celebrating Olympic values and promoting dialogue between art, culture and sports in the run-up to the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, scheduled for February 6-22 and March 6-15, 2026, respectively.
Man Ray (Philadelphia, 1890 - Paris, 1976) was a tireless painter, photographer, filmmaker and experimenter and is considered a key figure in the artistic avant-garde of the 20th century. Born Emmanuel Radnitsky to a Jewish family of Russian descent, he adopted the pseudonym “Man Ray” - the union of “Man” (man) and “Ray” (ray of light) - thus marking the beginning of a life and career deeply devoted to artistic experimentation.
The exhibition brings together some three hundred works, including vintage photographs, drawings, lithographs, objects and documents, from important collections both public and private.
The exhibition itinerary guides the visitor through the artist’s entire creative activity, presenting the main themes that inspired his production: self-portraits, in which the artist plays with his own identity and constructs ambiguous and chameleon-like characters; portraits of friends and intellectuals who gravitated to European and American cultural circles between the two wars; the female figure, a constant muse and object of visual experimentation; nudes, interpreted as abstract forms, symbolic fragments and plays of light; and the famous rayographs and solarizations, evidence of his inexhaustible technical and aesthetic research; fashion, where avant-garde and sophistication intertwine; the multiples and ready-mades, reflecting his Dadaist spirit and his indifference to the uniqueness of the work of art; cinema, explored as a space of total creative freedom, with the screening of his films Le Retour à la raison (1923), Emak Bakia (1926), L’Étoile de mer (1928) and Les Mystères du Château de Dé (1929).
The exhibition design was conceived by Studio ZDA - Zanetti Design Architettura.
Accompanying the exhibition event is a catalog published by Silvana Editoriale, edited by Pierre-Yves Butzbach and Robert Rocca, enriched with critical texts by Raffaella Perna and biographical and bibliographical apparatus.
Hours: Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.; Thursday from 10 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Closed Mondays.
|
|
| A major Man Ray retrospective is coming to Milan's Palazzo Reale. |
Warning: the translation into English of the original Italian article was created using automatic tools. We undertake to review all articles, but we do not guarantee the total absence of inaccuracies in the translation due to the program. You can find the original by clicking on the ITA button. If you find any mistake,please contact us.
