Man Ray
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© The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / DACS, London 2009

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Man Ray 1974
  • Artist Rooms
In the early 1970s Warhol began to accept regular commissions to paint the portraits of the rich and famous. However, as well as commissions, Warhol painted a number of portraits of people he admired, especially other artists. Man Ray, the American photographer and Dada artist, was one of his heroes, so much so that, when he could afford it, Warhol acquired a number of his photographs, paintings and early books. This portrait-diptych of Man Ray is based on a Polaroid photograph he took of him, cigar in mouth, in 1973. As with the portraits of his mother and other people he felt close to, these portraits of Man Ray are among the most painterly and heavily-worked Warhol ever painted.

Glossary Open

Commission

When an individual or organisation employs an artist to execute a particular project, the process and the resulting work are termed a ‘commission’.

Dada

A radical artistic and literary movement that was a reaction against the cultural climate that supported the First World War. The Dadaists took an anti-establishment attitude, questioning art's status and favouring performance and collage over traditional art techniques. Many Dadaists went on to become involved with Surrealism.

Diptych

An artwork consisting of two components, often joined in the centre by a hinge.

Commission, Dada, Diptych

Details

  • Acc. No. AR00039
  • Medium Acrylic paint and silkscreen on 2 canvases
  • Size 35.60 x 28.00 X 2.00 cm
  • Credit ARTIST ROOMS National Galleries of Scotland and Tate. Acquired jointly through The d'Offay Donation with assistance from the National Heritage Memorial Fund and the Art Fund 2008

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