Self -portrait. Ray M.

“Self -portrait” by Man Ray is the annals of the bohemian twentieth century, when everyone knew each other and lived in Paris (and a little in New York), but at the same time it is a confession of the artist, inventor, and the creator in the broad sense of the word.

Despite the record number in passing the mentioned world celebrities, Man Ray does not fall to secular gossip, and in the foreground he always has creativity. And everything else is only the beautiful scenery in which he happened to live and work. He describes his creative path in detail, not very embarrassed in expressions (“Looking back, I can’t help but admire the variety of my interests and my ingenuity. I was truly the new Leonardo da Vinci,” he says about himself eight years), but at the same time preserving common sense and sense of humor.

Man Ray was a very talented and versatile person, he did not see the need to choose one single shortcut and did not understand those who were dissatisfied with this: “... how many people are sure that I am not I have the right to be called both a photographer and an artist at the same time and must definitely be one to the detriment of another: an excellent photographer, but a crafted artist or, conversely, an excellent artist, but a crafted photographer, as if critics themselves are quite competent to be so that with The go to determine this. ”

Memoirs of Man Ray is a very voluminous and plausible section of the era, but at the same time a very personal story of the artist. He skillfully balances on the verge, without falling into one or another extreme - the frankness and subtle analysis of the modern world of art is mixed in a win -win proportion.