WATTS INDEXThe canonical database of visual culture

Artists›Charles Harbutt

Charles Harbutt

American, 1935

WA-00027494

PhotographyPhotography

Representation

None documented

Institutional Exhibitions

Works in Collection

Assets Indexed

Authority-backed Facts

Publications Referenced

90%

Profile Completeness

Cultural Positioning

Influence Graph

No influence edges encoded yet.

Authority Records (3)

WikidataQ5078759 ULAN500083469

MoMA

Selected Institutional Exhibitions

View all exhibitions →

No image

Mirrors and Windows: American Photography Since 1960

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1978

No image

The Photo Essay

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1965

Field Verification (3 fields)

3 cross-verified · 0 single-source

BiographyMoMA· 93%✓
Birth yearArtsy· 85%✓
NationalityArtsy· 85%✓

Source Registry (1)

MoMA bulk 2026-05-04https://www.moma.org/artists/2497
Tier 1 · Institutional92%

About

Why this artist matters now

Charles Harbutt was an American photographer known for black-and-white documentary work centered on American social life and urban environments in the postwar period. Working primarily in gelatin silver print, he developed a distinctive approach to street and candid photography that captured moments of everyday vulnerability and social tension. His archive represents a significant record of mid-to-late twentieth-century American culture.

Source: Moma Bulk 2026 05 04 · Trust score: 92% · Updated 29d ago

Graph relationships

Taste overlap and adjacency

Movement

Photography

Medium

Photography

Related Artists

12 in graph

Institutional

Museum Collections

Museum of Modern ArtNew York Art Institute of Chicago

Canonical record

Artworks (20)

WattsOS

Vera Cruz, Mexico

1982 · gelatin silver print

Image: 20.4 x 30.4 cm (8 1/16 x 11 15/16 in.); Paper: 27.8 x 35.3 cm (10 15/16 x 13 7/8 in.)

Cleveland Museum of Art

WattsOS

Patricia Highsmith, the Number One Mystery Writer

1978 · gelatin silver print

Image: 24 x 16 cm (9 7/16 x 6 5/16 in.); Paper: 25.3 x 20.9 cm (9 15/16 x 8 1/4 in.)

Cleveland Museum of Art

Untitled, 1975

1975 · Gelatin silver print

Image: 30.5 × 20.4 cm (12 1/16 × 8 1/16 in.); Paper: 35.3 × 27.8 cm (13 15/16 × 11 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Untitled

1974 · Gelatin silver print

Image: 20.1 × 30.5 cm (7 15/16 × 12 1/16 in.); Paper: 27.7 × 35.4 cm (10 15/16 × 13 15/16 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Untitled

1973 · Gelatin silver print

Image: 20.1 × 30.5 cm (7 15/16 × 12 1/16 in.); Paper: 27.9 × 35.4 cm (11 × 13 15/16 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Untitled

1973 · Gelatin silver print

Image: 20.2 × 29.8 cm (8 × 11 3/4 in.); Paper: 27.9 × 35.4 cm (11 × 13 15/16 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Untitled, 1973

1973 · Gelatin silver print

Image: 30.5 × 20.2 cm (12 1/16 × 8 in.); Paper: 35.4 × 27.8 cm (13 15/16 × 11 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Untitled, 1972

1972 · Gelatin silver print

Image: 30.4 × 23.7 cm (12 × 9 3/8 in.); Paper: 35.4 × 27.7 cm (13 15/16 × 10 15/16 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Untitled, 1973

1971 · Gelatin silver print

Image: 20.3 × 30.5 cm (8 × 12 1/16 in.); Paper: 27.8 × 35.5 cm (11 × 14 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Untitled

1971 · Gelatin silver print

Image: 20.4 × 30.2 cm (8 1/16 × 11 15/16 in.); Paper: 27.8 × 35.4 cm (11 × 13 15/16 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Untitled

1970 · Gelatin silver print, from the portfolio "Photographs from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago" (1975)

Image/paper: 22.7 × 15 cm (8 15/16 × 5 15/16 in.); Mount: 35.2 × 27.8 cm (13 7/8 × 11 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

WattsOS

Eugene McCarthy with presidential campaign supporters

1968 · Gelatin silver print

Paper: 29.9 x 20.4 cm (11 3/4 x 8 1/16 in.)

Cleveland Museum of Art

WattsOS

Eugene McCarthy during presidential campaign

1968 · vintage gelatin silver print

Image: 29.3 x 19.9 cm (11 9/16 x 7 13/16 in.); Paper: 29.3 x 19.9 cm (11 9/16 x 7 13/16 in.)

Cleveland Museum of Art

WattsOS

Eugene McCarthy Speaking to a Large Crowd During Presidential Campaign

1968 · gelatin silver print

Image: 16.6 x 25 cm (6 9/16 x 9 13/16 in.); Paper: 16.6 x 25 cm (6 9/16 x 9 13/16 in.)

Cleveland Museum of Art

Untitled

1965 · Gelatin silver print

Image: 20.3 × 30.5 cm (8 × 12 1/16 in.); Paper: 27.9 × 35.4 cm (11 × 13 15/16 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

WattsOS

Mother and Daughter, Brooklyn Heights, New York

1962 · gelatin silver print

Paper: 20.4 x 30.5 cm (8 1/16 x 12 in.); Matted: 40.6 x 50.9 cm (16 x 20 1/16 in.)

Cleveland Museum of Art

Woman and Child-Steps, Brooklyn Heights

1962 · Gelatin silver print

Image/paper: 21.3 × 32 cm (8 7/16 × 12 5/8 in.); Mount: 55.8 × 45.7 cm (22 × 18 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Blind Boy

1961 · Gelatin silver print

8 3/4 × 13 1/4" (22.3 × 33.7 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Untitled

1955 · Gelatin silver print

Image: 20.2 × 30.5 cm (8 × 12 1/16 in.); Paper: 27.8 × 35.5 cm (11 × 14 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Untitled

1950 · Gelatin silver print

Image/paper: 23 × 34.6 cm (9 1/16 × 13 5/8 in.); Mount: 55.7 × 45.7 cm (21 15/16 × 18 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

View all 20 artworks →

Artwork sources (3)

20 published of 21 catalogued · 15 with image

Art Institute Chicago
13 published13 img
Cleveland Museum of Art
6 published
MoMA
1 publishedof 2 catalogued2 img

Per-Artwork Provenance Chains (top 6)

6 entries · 1 sources

Vera Cruz, Mexico
1982 · Cleveland · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
Patricia Highsmith, the Number One Mystery Writer
1978 · Cleveland · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
Mother and Daughter, Brooklyn Heights, New York
1962 · Cleveland · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
Eugene McCarthy with presidential campaign supporters
1968 · Cleveland · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
Eugene McCarthy Speaking to a Large Crowd During Presidential Campaign
1968 · Cleveland · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
Eugene McCarthy during presidential campaign
1968 · Cleveland · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number

Record

Images

Artsy

Art Institute of Chicago

Relationships

Movements1

Photography

Collections2

Museum of Modern Art Art Institute of Chicago

Institutional

Representation & Collections

In collection

Museum of Modern Art

New York, US

In collection

Art Institute of Chicago

Record

Exhibitions and timeline

Group Exhibition Mirrors and Windows: American Photography Since 1960

New York · 1978

Group Exhibition The Photo Essay

New York · 1965