WATTS INDEXThe canonical database of visual culture

Artists›Uta Barth

Uta Barth

1958

WA-00005733

Berlin, Germany

PhotographyPhotographyContemporary

Representation

None documented

Institutional Exhibitions

Works in Collection

Assets Indexed

Authority-backed Facts

Publications Referenced

80%

Profile Completeness

Cultural Positioning

Influence Graph

No influence edges encoded yet.

Authority Records (2)

WikidataQ122006

MoMA

Field Verification (7 fields)

5 cross-verified · 2 single-source

BiographyWikipedia + Duplicate Merge+2· 88%✓
Birth yearWikidata + Duplicate Merge+1· 92%✓
Primary mediumWikidata + Duplicate Merge+1· 92%✓
LocationArtsy + Gallery· 85%✓
WebsiteWikidata· 92%✓
NationalityWikidata + Artsy+1· 92%
DeceasedUnknown· 20%

Source Registry (2)

Tanya-Bonakdarhttps://www.artsy.net/artist/uta-barth
Tier 3 · Scraped/inferred100%
MoMA bulk 2026-05-04https://www.moma.org/artists/7827
Tier 1 · Institutional92%

About

Why this artist matters now

Uta Barth inverts the conventions of photographic composition by treating background as foreground, producing images that make visible the mechanics and failures of human perception. Her work since the late 1980s interrogates what viewers actually see versus what they assume they see, collapsing the distinction between optical illusion and documentary fact. Rather than depicting subjects, her photographs redirect attention to the act of looking itself, exposing the precarious habits that govern vision.

Source: Tanya Bonakdar · Trust score: 100% · Updated 2mo ago

Graph relationships

Taste overlap and adjacency

Movement

Photography

Medium

Photography

Related Artists

12 in graph

Institutional

Museum Collections

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum The Metropolitan Museum of Art Art Institute of Chicago Tate

Canonical record

Artworks (18)

...and to draw a bright white line with light (Untitled 11.5), from the series "... and to draw a bright white line with light"

2011 · Inkjet prints (triptych)

Overall: 95.3 × 431.2 cm (37 1/2 × 169 3/4 in.); each panel, unframed: 95.3 × 141.7 cm (37 1/2 × 55 3/4 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Sundial (2007.14)

2007 · Chromogenic prints

Each 29 15/16 × 37 3/8" (76 × 95 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Sundial (2007.13)

2007 · Chromogenic prints

Each 30 × 28 1/4" (76.2 × 71.8 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Untitled (00.1)

2000 · Photograph, colour, Chromogenic print, on paper

unconfirmed: 508 x 762 mm

Tate

WattsOS

Untitled (98.2)

1998 · Chromogenic print

overall: 114.3 x 297.2 cm (45 x 117 in. ) each panel: 114.3 x 144.8 cm (45 x 57 in.)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Field #20

1997 · Digital print with acrylic paint on canvas

support: 3460 x 4157 mm

Tate

[no title]

1995 · Lithograph on paper

image: 85 x 86 mm

Tate

[no title]

1995 · Lithograph on paper

image: 133 x 96 mm

Tate

[no title]

1995 · Lithograph on paper

image: 117 x 100 mm

Tate

[no title]

1995 · Lithograph on paper

image: 137 x 128 mm

Tate

[no title]

1995 · Lithograph on paper

image: 126 x 119 mm

Tate

[no title]

1995 · Lithograph on paper

image: 112 x 112 mm

Tate

[no title]

1995 · Lithograph on paper

image: 73 x 118 mm

Tate

[no title]

1995 · Lithograph on paper

image: 111 x 85 mm

Tate

[no title]

1995 · Lithograph on paper

image: 144 x 130 mm

Tate

[no title]

1995 · Lithograph on paper

image: 100 x 104 mm

Tate

Ground #57

1995 · Chromogenic print

20 × 23" (50.8 × 58.4 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Ground #35

1994 · Chromogenic print, printed 1994

17 7/16 × 20 15/16" (44.3 × 53.3 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

View all 18 artworks →

Artwork sources (4)

18 published of 22 catalogued · 21 with image

Tate
12 published12 img
MoMA
4 publishedof 8 catalogued8 img
The Met
1 published
Art Institute Chicago
1 published1 img

Per-Artwork Provenance Chains (top 10)

10 entries · 1 sources

[no title]
1995 · Tate · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
[no title]
1995 · Tate · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
[no title]
1995 · Tate · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
Untitled (00.1)
2000 · Tate · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
[no title]
1995 · Tate · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
[no title]
1995 · Tate · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
[no title]
1995 · Tate · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
[no title]
1995 · Tate · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
[no title]
1995 · Tate · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
[no title]
1995 · Tate · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number

Record

Images

Artsy

Relationships

Movements2

Photography Contemporary

Collections4

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum The Metropolitan Museum of Art Art Institute of Chicago Tate

Institutional

Representation & Collections

In collection

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

In collection

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

In collection

Art Institute of Chicago

In collection

Tate

Background

Education

University of California, Los Angeles

Master of Fine Arts · 1985

University of California, Davis

Bachelor of Arts · 1982

Record

Exhibitions and timeline

No exhibitions or timeline entries yet