Man Ray, African Art and the Modernist Lens single-handedly resuscitates the photograph as a critical and almost completely overlooked medium in promoting the popularity and understanding of l'art nègre for a western audience. The monumental studies of Robert Goldwater and William Rubin—comprehensive and engaging though they may have been—overlooked the influential role played by the photograph in this context, a regrettable lacunae this endeavor seeks to fulfill. Not only does this catalogue complete a chapter in our understanding of Man Ray's work, but its cross-cultural approach allows us to see how the medium of photography influenced the reception of African and other non-western arts in the west, not only among artists, but by the general public as well.

Grossman’s pioneering endeavor uncovers the myriad of contexts in which the photographs, objects, and photographers under discussion are implicated, and in doing so, Grossman lays an essential foundation for what will become an area of sustained engagement for those interested in the reception of African art in the Modernist period.

By juxtaposing a selection of the photographs of Man Ray with examples of African art one can see the cross-currents of intellectual thought more deeply than has previously been shown. . . . A thought-provoking work.

Grossman’s analysis of the relationship between primitivism and photography is nothing less than groundbreaking. With regard to this important aspect of Man Ray’s work, Grossman’s account is the most comprehensive to date.

Wendy A. Grossman provides a lively description of the discovery of African art by American artists, and its crucial role in the development of American modernism. Though parts of this story are common knowledge, the author pulls them together into a fresh, comprehensive survey.

Grossman is particularly attuned to the transformations in perception and meaning that occur as an object becomes an image. Furthermore, as a photography historian, she continually alerts us to the unique aspects of the medium that secured it a central position in the telling of modernist primitivism. . . . Her text greatly aids us in our reading of these images, drawing attention to the camera angles, lighting, scale, and disorienting effects that these techniques produced . . . and the imperceptible ways in which broad public ideas of African art were reproduced through their publication.

After reading Grossman’s book, one would expect that all future books on African art will include a variety of photographs from all angles, including commercial or Surrealist photographs, as well as ‘ethnographic’ and ‘museum quality,’ i.e. ‘neutral’ images. And in truth this new approach should not stop with African art . . .

This is a book to be mined for a wide range of ideas and information. . . . This extraordinary richness will ensure the volume’s longevity as a key work in the field. The research is exemplary, the analytical approaches genuinely revealing and the production superb. It makes one see a well-known narrative in art history anew.

This book...stands in its own right, full of detailed research, critical reflection, excellent illustrations, and a multi-authored concordance of artifacts. This book has convinced me, a museum curator of photography within an ethnographic museum, to take an interest in the accumulated photographs of artifacts that the museum has generated over 120 years . . . This book’s blend of patient research, historiographical confidence, and thought-provoking analysis, as well as visual richness and ability to engage with popular culture, should be enough to inspire future exhibitions.

Given the wide range of interest which converges in the catalog, it will be of great interest to a variety of readers.