WATTS INDEXThe canonical database of visual culture

Artists›Philippe Halsman

Philippe Halsman

Philippe Halsman

American-Russian, 1906–1979

WA-00027475

Riga, Latvia

PhotographyPhotography

Representation

None documented

8

Institutional Exhibitions

22

Works in Collection

45

Assets Indexed

7

Authority-backed Facts

0

Publications Referenced

90%

Profile Completeness

Cultural Positioning

Influence Graph

No influence edges encoded yet.

Authority Records (3)

WikidataQ704572 ULAN500026767

Selected Institutional Exhibitions

View all exhibitions →

No image

Artists by Artists

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1977

No image

Photographs for Collectors

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1960

No image

30th Anniversary Special Installation - Towards the "New" Museum

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1959

No image

Photographs from the Museum Collection

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1958–1959

No image

Memorable Life Photographs

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1951

No image

Color Photography

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1950

No image

Music and Musicians

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1947–1948

No image

Portraits

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1943

Field Verification (6 fields)

6 cross-verified · 0 single-source

Birth yearMoMA + Duplicate Merge· 93%✓
LocationMoMA· 93%✓
NationalityMoMA· 93%✓
BiographyMoMA· 93%✓
Death yearDuplicate Merge· 85%✓
Primary mediumDuplicate Merge· 85%✓

Source Registry (2)

Christies-Artsyhttps://www.artsy.net/artist/philippe-halsman
Tier 3 · Scraped/inferred100%
MoMA bulk 2026-05-04https://www.moma.org/artists/2470
Tier 1 · Institutional92%

About

Why this artist matters now

Philippe Halsman was an American photographer known for psychologically penetrating portraits and experimental darkroom techniques developed in the postwar era. Born in Latvia and based in New York, he photographed major cultural figures including Einstein, Dalí, and Marilyn Monroe, employing innovative lighting and composition to reveal psychological states beyond conventional portraiture. His jump photographs, where subjects were captured mid-leap, became a signature method for accessing authentic emotional responses. Halsman's work demonstrated that photography could function as a form of psychological inquiry rather than mere documentation.

Source: Christies Artsy · Trust score: 100% · Updated 1mo ago

Graph relationships

Taste overlap and adjacency

Movement

Photography

Medium

Photography

Related Artists

12 in graph

Institutional

Museum Collections

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Cleveland Museum of Art Museum of Modern ArtNew York

Canonical record

Artworks (22)

Marilyn as Mao

1967 · Gelatin silver print

13 3/8 × 10 1/8" (34 × 25.8 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Richard Nixon

1967 · Gelatin silver print

13 11/16 × 10 11/16" (34.7 × 27.2 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

1959 · Gelatin silver print

13 3/4 × 10 3/4" (34.9 × 27.3 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Captain Edward Steichen

Captain Edward Steichen

1959 · Gelatin silver print

9 5/8 × 7 9/16" (24.5 × 19.2 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Princess Taibou Daillo, French West Africa

1958 · Chromogenic print

Image: 11 5/16 × 8 5/8 in. (28.7 × 21.9 cm) Sheet: 11 5/16 × 8 5/8 in. (28.7 × 21.9 cm)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

J. Robert Oppenheimer

1958 · gelatin silver print

Image: 50.9 x 40.8 cm (20 1/16 x 16 1/16 in.); Matted: 71.1 x 55.9 cm (28 x 22 in.)

Cleveland Museum of Art

Rev. Martin Cyril D'Arcy, S.J.

Rev. Martin Cyril D'Arcy, S.J.

1958 · Gelatin silver print

13 1/2 × 19 5/8" (34.2 × 26.8 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Vice President Richard Nixon, White House

Vice President Richard Nixon, White House

1955 · Gelatin silver print

9 3/4 × 7 5/8" (24.7 × 19.4 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Marilyn Monroe with Barbells

Marilyn Monroe with Barbells

1952 · Gelatin silver print

10 13/16 × 13 7/8" (27.5 × 35.3 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Marilyn Monroe at the Drive-in

Marilyn Monroe at the Drive-in

1952 · Gelatin silver print

7 9/16 × 9 5/8" (19.2 × 24.4 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Marilyn Monroe

1952 · Gelatin silver print

13 5/16 × 10 9/16" (33.8 × 26.8 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Brigitte Bardot

Brigitte Bardot

1951 · Gelatin silver print

13 × 10 1/4" (33.1 × 26 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Winston Churchill, Chartwell

Winston Churchill, Chartwell

1951 · Gelatin silver print

11 1/4 × 9 3/4" (28.5 × 24.8 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Anna Magnani

1951 · Gelatin silver print

13 7/16 × 10 5/8" (34.1 × 27.0 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Jean Cocteau: "The Final Touch"

Jean Cocteau: "The Final Touch"

1949 · Gelatin silver print

13 3/8 × 10 13/16" (34 × 27.5 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Jean Cocteau

1949 · Gelatin silver print

13 1/2 × 10 1/2" (34.3 × 26.7 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Studies for Dali Atomicus

Studies for Dali Atomicus

1948 · Gelatin silver prints

overall 7 11/16 × 9 7/16" (19.5 × 24 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Elizabeth Taylor

Elizabeth Taylor

1948 · Gelatin silver print

19 7/16 × 15 11/16" (49.4 × 39.8 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Dali Atomicus

1948 · Gelatin silver print

10 1/8 × 13 1/8" (25.8 × 33.3 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Lauren Bacall

1944 · Gelatin silver print

13 11/16 × 10 5/8" (34.8 × 27 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Marian Anderson

Marian Anderson

1944 · Gelatin silver print

13 5/8 × 10 5/8" (34.7 × 27.0 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Ruth Haurwitz, Paris

Ruth Haurwitz, Paris

1938 · Gelatin silver print

11 9/16 × 9 5/16" (29.4 × 23.6 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

View all 22 artworks →

Artwork sources (3)

22 published of 42 catalogued · 38 with image

MoMA
20 publishedof 40 catalogued38 img
Cleveland Museum of Art
1 published
The Met
1 published

Per-Artwork Provenance Chains (top 1)

1 entries · 1 sources

J. Robert Oppenheimer
1958 · Cleveland · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number

Record

Images

Artsy artist portrait

Artsy

Visitation, from Book of Hours (Art Institute of Chicago)

Art Institute of Chicago

Visitation, from Book of Hours (Art Institute of Chicago)

Art Institute of Chicago

Relationships

5

Movements1

Collections4

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Cleveland Museum of Art Museum of Modern Art Artsy

Institutional

Representation & Collections

In collection

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

In collection

Cleveland Museum of Art

In collection

Museum of Modern Art

New York, US

Market

Auction sale history

Houses that have sold works by this artist at auction

Market

Auction History

Work	Auction House	Date	Estimate	Hammer Price
Untitled	Artsy	Apr 2026	€700 – €1,000	Unsold