Revealing Man Ray

Today, running alongside the show, Atlas Gallery in central London opens a show of Ray’s contact prints, a beautiful exhibition of 45 works formerly housed in a private collection.

The tiny dark-room reference prints offer an insight into the artist’s working processes, with many marked in pen, as though editing them for further works and compositions. Many of the works are printed full frame, showing untouched versions of some of Man Ray’s most famous works.

There are also some printed sketches on show.

As well as Man Ray’s iconic female portraits and nudes, the show reads like a Who’s Who of the early 20^th century art world with portraits of a grumpy-looking, apparently chain-smoking Picasso, Georges Braque and writer James Joyce.

Man Ray runs until 28 March at Atlas Gallery, 49 Dorset Street, London W1U