Curtis Moffat - Early Years

Early Years

Moffat was born in Brooklyn in 1887 into a wealthy New York family, the son of Edwin Curtis Moffat Sr. (1853–1931) and Aline Adelaide Graves (born 1860). Moffat moved to Brittany, France with his parents at an early age before being educated at St. Mark's School in the U.S.

After a brief diplomatic career early in the new century, he studied painting in New York and was part of a group of artists including George Bellows, Robert Henri and John French Sloan. In 1913–1914, he studied at the Beaux arts in Paris. One man shows of his work were held in New York in 1916 and 1919. In 1916, he married actress-poet Iris Tree, the daughter of actor-manager Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree, in New York. A son, Ivan, born in Cuba in 1918, became a screenwriter.

After World War I ended, Moffat and his wife settled in London, and he became interested in photography. In 1923 he went to Paris where he was involved with the Surrealists and the Dada movement. He collaborated with Man Ray, with whom he developed "painting with light" 'Rayogram' compositions and other experimental techniques. In 1925 he opened a photographic studio with Olivia Wyndham in London called the "M Studio". His large and striking black and white portraits of friends such as the Sitwells, Diana Cooper, Augustus John and Nancy Cunard influenced Cecil Beaton, among others. Two exhibitions of his photographs were held in London in 1925 and 1926.