WATTS INDEXThe canonical database of visual culture

Artists›Robert Heinecken

Robert Heinecken

1931

WA-00003408

Photography

Representation

None documented

Institutional Exhibitions

153

Works in Collection

218

Assets Indexed

Authority-backed Facts

Publications Referenced

70%

Profile Completeness

Cultural Positioning

Influence Graph

No influence edges encoded yet.

Authority Records (2)

WikidataQ7345382

MoMA

Field Verification (3 fields)

1 cross-verified · 2 single-source

Birth yearArtsy· 85%✓
NationalityArtsy· 85%
LocationGallery Generic· 72%

Source Registry (3)

Petzelhttps://www.artsy.net/artist/robert-heinecken
Tier 3 · Scraped/inferred100%
Christies-Artsyhttps://www.artsy.net/artist/robert-heinecken
Tier 3 · Scraped/inferred100%
MoMA bulk 2026-05-04https://www.moma.org/artists/2578
Tier 1 · Institutional92%

About

Why this artist matters now

Robert Heinecken manipulated found printed matter through lithography, etching, and direct-exposure photograms, forging unexpected collisions between advertising imagery and editorial photography. Often called a "para-photographer" for rarely using a camera, he prefigured 1980s appropriation art with works such as "Are You Rea" (1966-67), in which magazine pages on light tables revealed unsettling composites of consumer culture.

Source: Petzel · Trust score: 100% · Updated 2mo ago

Graph relationships

Taste overlap and adjacency

Movement

—

Medium

Photography

Related Artists

6 in graph

Institutional

Museum Collections

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Art Institute of Chicago Cleveland Museum of Art

Canonical record

Artworks (153)

150 Years of Photojournalism, #1

1989 · Photolithograph (magazine cutout)

Collage: 22.4 × 28.7 cm (8 7/8 × 11 5/16 in.); Magazine: 27.5 × 20.7 cm (10 7/8 × 8 3/16 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

WattsOS

Recto/Verso

1989 · Cibachrome

Paper: 27.9 x 35.6 cm (11 x 14 in.); Matted: 40.6 x 50.8 cm (16 x 20 in.)

Cleveland Museum of Art

Recto/Verso #9

1988 · Silver dye-bleach print, from the portfolio "Recto/Verso" (1989)

Image: 27.5 × 22.5 cm (10 7/8 × 8 7/8 in.); Paper: 35.7 × 27.9 cm (14 1/16 × 11 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Recto/Verso #12

1988 · Silver dye-bleach print, from the portfolio "Recto/Verso" (1989)

Image: 26.4 × 20.7 cm (10 7/16 × 8 3/16 in.); Paper: 35.6 × 27.9 cm (14 1/16 × 11 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Recto/Verso #11

1988 · Silver dye-bleach print, from the portfolio "Recto/Verso" (1989)

Image: 27.5 × 20.5 cm (10 7/8 × 8 1/8 in.); Paper: 35.7 × 28 cm (14 1/16 × 11 1/16 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Recto/Verso #10

1988 · Silver dye-bleach print, from the portfolio "Recto/Verso" (1989)

Image: 27.5 × 19.7 cm (10 7/8 × 7 13/16 in.); Paper: 35.6 × 27.9 cm (14 1/16 × 11 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Recto/Verso #8

1988 · Silver dye-bleach print, from the portfolio "Recto/Verso" (1989)

Image: 26.4 × 20.6 cm (10 7/16 × 8 1/8 in.); Paper: 35.7 × 27.9 cm (14 1/16 × 11 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Recto/Verso #7

1988 · Silver dye-bleach print, from the portfolio "Recto/Verso" (1989)

Image: 27.5 × 22.1 cm (10 7/8 × 8 3/4 in.); Paper: 35.6 × 28 cm (14 1/16 × 11 1/16 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Recto/Verso #5

1988 · Silver dye-bleach print, from the portfolio "Recto/Verso" (1989)

Image: 27.3 × 19.5 cm (10 3/4 × 7 11/16 in.); Paper: 35.6 × 27.9 cm (14 1/16 × 11 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Recto/Verso #4

1988 · Silver dye-bleach print, from the portfolio "Recto/Verso" (1989)

Image: 26.5 × 20.2 cm (10 7/16 × 8 in.); Paper: 35.6 × 27.9 cm (14 1/16 × 11 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Recto/Verso #3

1988 · Silver dye-bleach print, from the portfolio "Recto/Verso" (1989)

Image: 27.6 × 20.1 cm (10 7/8 × 7 15/16 in.); Paper: 35.6 × 27.9 cm (14 1/16 × 11 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Recto/Verso #2

1988 · Silver dye-bleach print, from the portfolio "Recto/Verso" (1989)

Image: 21.9 × 20.2 cm (8 5/8 × 8 in.); Paper: 35.6 × 27.9 cm (14 1/16 × 11 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Recto/Verso #1

1988 · Silver dye-bleach print, from the portfolio "Recto/Verso" (1989)

Image: 27.4 × 23 cm (10 13/16 × 9 1/16 in.); Paper: 35.6 × 27.9 cm (14 1/16 × 11 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Recto/Verso #6

1988 · Silver dye-bleach print, from the portfolio "Recto/Verso" (1989), eidtion 26/50

Image: 26.6 × 19.9 cm (10 1/2 × 7 7/8 in.); Paper: 35.7 × 27.9 cm (14 1/16 × 11 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Recto/Verso #8

1988 · Silver dye bleach print

10 3/8" (26.3 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Recto/Verso #7

1988 · Silver dye bleach print

10 13/16 × 8 9/16" (27.5 × 21.8 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Recto/Verso #6

1988 · Silver dye bleach print

10 1/2 × 7 13/16" (26.7 × 19.8 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Recto/Verso #5

1988 · Silver dye bleach print

10 11/16 × 7 13/16" (27.2 × 19.8 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Recto/Verso #10

1988 · Silver dye bleach print

10 13/16 × 7 11/16" (27.5 × 19.6 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Recto/Verso #4

1988 · Silver dye bleach print

10 7/16 × 7 15/16" (26.5 × 20.1 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Recto/Verso #11

1988 · Silver dye bleach print

10 3/4 × 8 1/16" (27.4 × 20.5 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Recto/Verso #3

1988 · Silver dye bleach print

10 7/8 × 7 7/8" (27.6 × 20 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Recto/Verso #2

1988 · Silver dye bleach print

8 5/8 × 7 7/8" (21.9 × 20 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Recto/Verso #12

1988 · Silver dye bleach print

10 3/8 × 8 1/8" (26.3 × 20.6 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

View all 153 artworks →

Artwork sources (4)

153 published of 214 catalogued · 188 with image

Art Institute Chicago
83 published83 img
MoMA
61 publishedof 122 catalogued105 img
The Met
7 published
Cleveland Museum of Art
2 published

Per-Artwork Provenance Chains (top 1)

1 entries · 1 sources

Recto/Verso
1989 · Cleveland · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number

Record

Images

Artsy

Art Institute of Chicago

Relationships

Collections3

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Art Institute of Chicago Cleveland Museum of Art

Institutional

Representation & Collections

In collection

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

In collection

Art Institute of Chicago

In collection

Cleveland Museum of Art

Background

Education

University of California, Los Angeles

Visual Arts

Record

Exhibitions and timeline

No exhibitions or timeline entries yet