Man Ray: Revolving Doors Tapestries – First U.S. Exhibition

Modern Masters Tapestries is thrilled to unveil our upcoming show, Man Ray: Revolving Doors Tapestries, the first time this significant series has been shown in the United States. A leading figure in the Dada and Surrealist movements, Man Ray was a true avant-garde innovator. His creative career spanned continents and various disciplines, including photography, filmmaking, sculpture, and painting.

The Revolving Doors series originated as a conceptual project during his initial U.S. exhibition. The series comprises ten unique panels, each crafted from meticulously cut pieces of colored construction paper and mounted on white cardboard. Published years later in various Surrealist magazines, their lithographic versions influenced many emerging artists and foreshadowed Man Ray’s photographic experiments in the 1920s. The works were a departure from traditional art, utilizing geometric forms that were groundbreaking for the period and helped pave the way for new perceptions of abstraction and geometry in modern art.

This project was revitalized in 1972 with a new lithographic edition of the series, which led to a pivotal meeting between Man Ray and the master weavers Frédérique Bachellerie and Péter Schönwald from the renowned Parisian workshop Atelier 3. This collaboration resulted in a complete set of ten tapestries, officially sanctioned by the artist and produced in a limited edition of just six per design. Using a blend of wool and cotton, the skilled artisans at Atelier 3 painstakingly translated Man Ray’s modernist vision, thread by thread. True to their craft, they distinguished their unique method by weaving from the front, which allowed for continuous artistic interpretation. At 83, Man Ray visited their workshop and famously remarked, “After having lunch with all these businessmen, it’s wonderful to finally be in an artisan’s workshop!”. He was so impressed with their work that he said, “If I had the time, we could invent new subjects for tapestry”.

Man Ray’s foray into tapestry was more than a creative exercise; it was a philosophical declaration. As a Surrealist, he aimed to dissolve the boundaries between art and life, questioning the conventional definition of what a work of art could be. By reimagining his collages as functional, decorative art, he elevated textiles to the status of fine art. The tapestries were not intended to be static, but rather a dynamic form of wall art designed to add a bold, sophisticated statement to any space. Today, Modern Masters Tapestries, led by acclaimed tapestry expert Didier Marien, is honored to showcase these extraordinary pieces. The gallery is home to one of the world’s most prestigious collections of modern tapestries, and Didier Marien’s personal collection even includes the very first tapestry created from this project. These tapestries serve as a powerful testament to Man Ray’s ability to innovate across various mediums, from painting and photography to textiles. They were largely stored away for four decades, making this a rare and evocative collection. We invite visitors to experience this crucial but often overlooked aspect of Man Ray’s body of work.