Man Ray (1890–1976), born Emmanuel Radnitsky, is considered one of the twentieth century’s most influential artists. He produced his most important work in the 1920s and ‘30s while living in Paris, where he found inspiration in the work of his friend Marcel Duchamp and in the art of Dadaism, Cubism, and Surrealism. He made photographs, films, paintings and found-object sculptures with interchangeable fluency and innovative skill. Within photography, his series of rayograms distinguished him as one of the medium’s unique, iconoclastic talents.Published in 1931, the Électricité Portfolio is a prime example of Man Ray’s experimental style of photography that flourished during the interwar period. At the time, most homes in France relied on natural gas, wood, or coal for lighting, cooking, and heating. The French electric company (La Campagnie Parisiene de Distribution d’Électricité) commissioned the portfolio in an edition of 500 to promote the use of electricity to their best customers. The Électricité Portfolio consists of 10 rayograms, all related to uses of electricity, and a text by Pierre Bost.