WATTS INDEXThe canonical database of visual culture

Artists›Joel-Peter Witkin

Joel-Peter Witkin

1939

WA-00012632

Photography

Representation

None documented

Institutional Exhibitions

Works in Collection

Assets Indexed

Authority-backed Facts

Publications Referenced

60%

Profile Completeness

Cultural Positioning

Influence Graph

No influence edges encoded yet.

Authority Records (2)

WikidataQ554307

MoMA

Field Verification (5 fields)

3 cross-verified · 2 single-source

Birth yearArtsy + Duplicate Merge· 92%✓
Primary mediumDuplicate Merge· 85%✓
BiographyDuplicate Merge· 85%✓
NationalityWikidata + Artsy· 92%
LocationWikidata· 80%

Source Registry (2)

MoMA bulk 2026-05-04https://www.moma.org/artists/6417
Tier 1 · Institutional92%
Artist Index
Tier 3 · Scraped/inferred35%

About

Why this artist matters now

Joel-Peter Witkin is an American photographer who lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico. His work often deals with themes such as death, corpses, often featuring ornately decorated photographic models, including people with dwarfism, transgender and intersex persons, as well as people living with a range of physical features. Witkin is often praised for presenting these figures in poses which celebrate and honor their physiques in an elevated, artistic manner. Witkin's complex tableaux vivants often recall religious episodes or classical paintings.

Source: Moma Bulk 2026 05 04 · Trust score: 92% · Updated 1mo ago

Graph relationships

Taste overlap and adjacency

Movement

—

Medium

Photography

Related Artists

6 in graph

Institutional

Museum Collections

Cleveland Museum of Art Art Institute of Chicago Museum of Modern ArtNew York

Canonical record

Artworks (11)

WattsOS

Feast of Fools (Mexico City)

1990 · photogravure

Image: 27.9 x 34 cm (11 x 13 3/8 in.); Paper: 50.4 x 60.3 cm (19 13/16 x 23 3/4 in.); Matted: 55.9 x 66 cm (22 x 26 in.)

Cleveland Museum of Art

Siamese Twins, Los Angeles

1988 · Gelatin silver print

37.2 × 37.5 cm (14 11/16 × 14 13/16 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Gods of Earth and Heaven, Los Angeles

1988 · Gelatin silver print

37.3 × 38 cm (14 11/16 × 15 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Hermaphrodite with Christ

1985 · Gelatin silver print

37 × 37.5 cm (14 5/8 × 14 13/16 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Alternates for Muybridge, San Francisco

1984 · Gelatin silver print

37.5 × 37.9 cm (14 13/16 × 14 15/16 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

WattsOS

Man without Legs, New York City

1984 · gelatin silver print

Image: 36.6 x 37.9 cm (14 7/16 x 14 15/16 in.); Paper: 50.4 x 40.6 cm (19 13/16 x 16 in.); Matted: 50.8 x 61 cm (20 x 24 in.)

Cleveland Museum of Art

WattsOS

In a Dream...

1983 · foil stamping on cloth, portfoilo box cover

Case: 65.1 x 54.6 x 5 cm (25 5/8 x 21 1/2 x 1 15/16 in.)

Cleveland Museum of Art

Bee Boy, New Mexico

1982 · Gelatin silver print

37.2 × 37.3 cm (14 11/16 × 14 11/16 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Androgeny Breast Feeding a Fetus

1981 · Gelatin silver print

Image: 73.7 × 73.7 cm (29 1/16 × 29 1/16 in.); mount: 101 × 98.2 cm (39 13/16 × 38 11/16 in.); frame: 103.3 × 100.8 cm (40 11/16 × 39 11/16 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Angel of the Carrots

1981 · Gelatin silver print

37.3 × 37.6 cm (14 11/16 × 14 13/16 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

WattsOS

Untitled

1969 · Gelatin silver print

4 1/2 × 6 3/4" (11.4 × 17.1 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

View all 11 artworks →

Artwork sources (3)

11 published of 12 catalogued · 7 with image

Art Institute Chicago
7 published7 img
Cleveland Museum of Art
3 published
MoMA
1 publishedof 2 catalogued

Per-Artwork Provenance Chains (top 3)

3 entries · 1 sources

In a Dream...
1983 · Cleveland · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
Feast of Fools (Mexico City)
1990 · Cleveland · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
Man without Legs, New York City
1984 · Cleveland · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number

Record

Images

Artsy

Wikimedia Commons (Instagram fallback)

Wikimedia Commons (Instagram fallback)

Wikipedia

Relationships

Collections4

Cleveland Museum of Art Art Institute of Chicago Museum of Modern Art Artsy

Institutional

Representation & Collections

In collection

Cleveland Museum of Art

In collection

Art Institute of Chicago

In collection

Museum of Modern Art

New York, US

Market

Auction sale history

Houses that have sold works by this artist at auction

Auction house

Artsy

Background

Education

Cooper Union

Bachelor of Arts, art of sculpture · 1974

Columbia University

Visual Arts

University of New Mexico

Master of Fine Arts

Grover Cleveland High School

Visual Arts

Record

Exhibitions and timeline

No exhibitions or timeline entries yet