WATTS INDEXThe canonical database of visual culture

Artists›Danny Lyon

Danny Lyon

American, 1942

WA-00028271

Brooklyn, NY, USA

PhotographyNaive Art

Representation

None documented

Institutional Exhibitions

216

Works in Collection

263

Assets Indexed

Authority-backed Facts

Publications Referenced

80%

Profile Completeness

Cultural Positioning

Influence Graph

No influence edges encoded yet.

Authority Records (3)

WikidataQ5220576 ULAN500055341

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

Steichen Gallery Reinstallation

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1971

No image

The Photographer's Eye

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1964

Field Verification (3 fields)

3 cross-verified · 0 single-source

Birth yearMoMA· 93%✓
LocationMoMA· 93%✓
NationalityMoMA· 93%✓

Source Registry (1)

MoMA bulk 2026-05-04https://www.moma.org/artists/3650
Tier 1 · Institutional92%

About

Why this artist matters now

Danny Lyon considers himself a photojournalist, and his work, a brand of advocacy journalism; Lyon devotes his career to documenting the demonstrations of social activism in which he has immersed himself. A self-taught photographer, Lyon was first introduced to the medium as a staff photographer for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, photographing civil rights demonstrations against segregation in the American South. His other subjects have included the Chicago Outlaw Motorcycle Club (of which he was part for two years), the Texas prison system, the Occupy movement, and the redevelopment of Lower Manhattan. His work was perhaps most strongly influenced by the 1941 publication Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, featuring text by James Agee and photographs by Walker Evans.

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

Graph relationships

Taste overlap and adjacency

Movement

Naive Art

Medium

Photography

Related Artists

12 in graph

Institutional

Museum Collections

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Cleveland Museum of Art Museum of Modern ArtNew York Art Institute of Chicago Whitney Museum of American Art

Canonical record

Artworks (216)

"Good By from Friends"

1985 · Gelatin silver print

Image: 19 × 25 cm (7 1/2 × 9 7/8 in.); Paper: 25.8 × 32.1 cm (10 3/16 × 12 11/16 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

WattsOS

The Copa Club, Port-au-Prince

1983 · gelatin silver print

Image: 27.9 x 35.6 cm (11 x 14 in.)

Cleveland Museum of Art

IRT 2, South Bronx, New York City

1979 · Gelatin silver print, No. 29 from the portfolio "Danny Lyon" (1979)

Image: 22 × 32.7 cm (8 11/16 × 12 7/8 in.); Paper: 28.1 × 35.5 cm (11 1/8 × 14 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

IRT 2, South Bronx, New York City

1979 · Gelatin silver print, No. 30 from the portfolio "Danny Lyon" (1979)

Image: 21.9 × 32.8 cm (8 5/8 × 12 15/16 in.); Paper: 28 × 35.5 cm (11 1/16 × 14 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

WattsOS

Danny Lyon

1979 · Thirty gelatin silver prints, published 1979

Museum of Modern Art

IRT 2, South Bronx, New York City

1979 · Gelatin silver print

8 11/16 × 12 13/16" (22 × 32.6 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

IRT 2, South Bronx, New York City

1979 · Gelatin silver print

11 × 14" (28 × 35.6 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Bus Stop, Tehauntepec, Oaxaca

1978 · Gelatin silver print, No. 28 from the portfolio "Danny Lyon" (1979)

Image: 33.1 × 22 cm (13 1/16 × 8 11/16 in.); Paper: 35.6 × 27.8 cm (14 1/16 × 11 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Bus Stop, Tehauntepec, Oaxaca

1978 · Gelatin silver print

14 × 11" (35.6 × 28 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico

1977 · Gelatin silver print, No. 27 from the portfolio "Danny Lyon" (1979)

Image: 21.9 × 32.6 cm (8 5/8 × 12 7/8 in.); Paper: 27.7 × 35.4 cm (10 15/16 × 13 15/16 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico

1977 · Gelatin silver print

11 × 14" (28 × 35.6 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Andrew at Sixteen, Bernalillo, New Mexico

1976 · Gelatin silver print, No. 26 from the portfolio "Danny Lyon" (1979)

Image: 22.1 × 33.6 cm (8 3/4 × 13 1/4 in.); Paper: 27.7 × 35.8 cm (10 15/16 × 14 1/8 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Andrew at Sixteen, Bernadillo, New Mexico

1976 · Gelatin silver print

11 × 14" (28 × 35.6 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Truck in Nueva Casas Grandes, Chihuahua, Mexico

1975 · Gelatin silver print, No. 25 from the portfolio "Danny Lyon" (1979)

Image: 21.8 × 32.6 cm (8 5/8 × 12 7/8 in.); Paper: 27.7 × 35.8 cm (10 15/16 × 14 1/8 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Truck in Nueva Casas Grandes, Chihuahua, Mexico

1975 · Gelatin silver print

11 × 14" (28 × 35.6 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Man from Durango (Bernalillo, New Mexico)

1973 · Gelatin silver print

Image: 15.2 × 19.4 cm (6 × 7 11/16 in.); Paper: 20.2 × 25.3 cm (8 × 10 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

WattsOS

Matachines, Central Mexico

1973 · gelatin silver print

Image: 31.7 x 25 cm (12 1/2 x 9 13/16 in.); Paper: 35.4 x 27.7 cm (13 15/16 x 10 7/8 in.)

Cleveland Museum of Art

Santa Marta, Columbia

1972 · Gelatin silver print, No. 21 from the portfolio "Danny Lyon" (1979)

Image: 21.8 × 32.6 cm (8 5/8 × 12 7/8 in.); Paper: 27.7 × 35.5 cm (10 15/16 × 14 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Joselin, Santa Marta, Columbia

1972 · Gelatin silver print, No. 22 from the portfolio "Danny Lyon" (1979)

Image: 21.8 × 32.5 cm (8 5/8 × 12 13/16 in.); Paper: 27.7 × 35.4 cm (10 15/16 × 13 15/16 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Namequepa, Chihuahua, Mexico

1972 · Gelatin silver print, No. 24 from the portfolio "Danny Lyon" (1979)

Image: 32.9 × 22 cm (13 × 8 11/16 in.); Paper: 35.4 × 27.8 cm (13 15/16 × 11 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Mary, Santa Marta, Columbia

1972 · Gelatin silver print, No. 23 from the portfolio "Danny Lyon" (1979)

Image: 21.8 × 32.5 cm (8 5/8 × 12 13/16 in.); Paper: 27.8 × 35.5 cm (11 × 14 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Mary, Santa Marta, Colombia

1972 · Gelatin silver print

Image: 21.6 × 32.4 cm (8 9/16 × 12 13/16 in.); Paper: 27.7 × 35.5 cm (10 15/16 × 14 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Joselin, Santa Marta, Colombia

1972 · Gelatin silver print

8 11/16 × 12 15/16" (22 × 32.9 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Santa Marta, Colombia

1972 · Gelatin silver print

11 × 14" (28 × 35.6 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

View all 216 artworks →

Artwork sources (5)

216 published of 260 catalogued · 248 with image

Art Institute Chicago
162 published162 img
MoMA
44 publishedof 88 catalogued86 img
Cleveland Museum of Art
7 published
Whitney
2 published
The Met
1 published

Per-Artwork Provenance Chains (top 3)

3 entries · 1 sources

SNCC workers stand outside the funeral: Emma Bell, Dorie Ladner, Dona Richards, Sam Shirah, and Doris Derby, Birmingham
1963 · Cleveland · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
Solitary Confinement, Ramsey Unit
1968 · Cleveland · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
Matachines, Central Mexico
1973 · Cleveland · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number

Record

Images

Artsy

Art Institute of Chicago

Relationships

Movements1

Naive Art

Collections7

Art Institute of Chicago Cleveland Museum of Art Museum of Modern Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art Whitney Museum of American Art Christie's

Institutional

Representation & Collections

In collection

Art Institute of Chicago

In collection

Cleveland Museum of Art

In collection

Museum of Modern Art

New York, US

In collection

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

In collection

Whitney Museum of American Art

Market

Auction sale history

Houses that have sold works by this artist at auction

Market

Auction History

Range: $1,875 – $52,920

Work	Auction House	Date	Estimate	Hammer Price
Untitled	Artsy	Mar 2026	$1,000 – $1,500	Unsold
Uptown, 1965	Christie's	Sep 2025	$18,000 – $22,000	$15,240
Memories of the Southern Civil Rights Movement, 1962-64	Christie's	Apr 2025	$30,000 – $40,000	$52,920
Bikeriders Portfolio, 1962-1967	Christie's	Mar 2024	$40,000 – $60,000	Unsold
Crossing the Ohio, 1966	Christie's	Mar 2022	$4,000 – $6,000	$6,930
Weight Lifters, Ramsey Unit, Texas Prison, 1968	Christie's	Mar 2022	$3,000 – $5,000	$3,528
Knoxville, 1967	Christie's	Mar 2022	$3,000 – $5,000	$12,600
Arrest on Federal Building Steps, Selma, Alabama, 1963	Christie's	Mar 2022	$4,000 – $6,000	$4,032
Segregated Drinking Fountain, County Courthouse, Albany, GA, 1962	Christie's	Mar 2022	$5,000 – $7,000	Unsold
Wynn Unit, 1967-1969	Christie's	Oct 2021	$3,000 – $5,000	Unsold

Showing 10 of 20 results

Record

Exhibitions and timeline

Group Exhibition Mirrors and Windows: American Photography Since 1960

New York · 1978

Group Exhibition Steichen Gallery Reinstallation

New York · 1971

Group Exhibition The Photographer's Eye

New York · 1964