WATTS INDEXThe canonical database of visual culture

Artists›Max Yavno

Max Yavno

American, 1911

WA-00030165

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 (2)

WikidataQ6795404

MoMA

Selected Institutional Exhibitions

View all exhibitions →

No image

New Standpoints: Photography, 1940�1955

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1978

No image

Word and Image: Posters and Typography from the Graphic Design Collection of the Museum of Modern Art, 1879�1967

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1968

Field Verification (3 fields)

3 cross-verified · 0 single-source

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

Source Registry (2)

Christies-Artsyhttps://www.artsy.net/artist/max-yavno
Tier 3 · Scraped/inferred100%
MoMA bulk 2026-05-04https://www.moma.org/artists/6495
Tier 1 · Institutional92%

About

Why this artist matters now

Max Yavno was an American photographer whose sharp-focus, geometrically composed street photographs captured the visual texture of postwar urban America. Working primarily in black and white, he developed a distinctive approach to documentary photography that emphasized formal structure and tonal contrast over narrative sentiment. His work remained relatively understudied during his lifetime but has since been recognized for its rigorous formal discipline and prescient attention to vernacular architecture and public space.

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

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

Canonical record

Artworks (14)

Afternoon Traffic

1979 · Gelatin silver print

Image: 39.6 × 48.4 cm (15 5/8 × 19 1/16 in.); Paper: 40.5 × 50.4 cm (16 × 19 7/8 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Ice Machine

1978 · Gelatin silver print

Image/paper: 26.3 × 34 cm (10 3/8 × 13 7/16 in.); Mount: 40.5 × 50.8 cm (16 × 20 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Cheap Gas

1978 · Gelatin silver print

31.2 × 26.4 cm (image); 35.5 × 27.7 (paper)

Art Institute of Chicago

Knockout

1977 · Gelatin silver print

Image/paper: 38.9 × 48.9 cm (15 3/8 × 19 5/16 in.); Mount: 55.8 × 71 cm (22 × 28 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Watts, California

1977 · Gelatin silver print

23.1 × 34.2 cm (image); 27.8 × 35.4 (paper)

Art Institute of Chicago

Muscle Beach

1949 · Gelatin silver print

29.3 × 49.5 cm (image); 40.5 × 50.4 (paper)

Art Institute of Chicago

WattsOS

Untitled

1947 · gelatin silver print

Image: 18.8 x 23.9 cm (7 3/8 x 9 7/16 in.); Matted: 35.6 x 45.7 cm (14 x 18 in.)

Cleveland Museum of Art

WattsOS

View from Twin Peaks

1947 · gelatin silver print

Image: 7.5 x 13.7 cm (2 15/16 x 5 3/8 in.); Matted: 30.6 x 35.6 cm (12 1/16 x 14 in.)

Cleveland Museum of Art

Two Chinese

1947 · Gelatin silver print

Image: 34.1 × 26.5 cm (13 7/16 × 10 7/16 in.); Mount: 50.8 × 40.5 cm (20 × 16 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Powell Street

1947 · Gelatin silver print

Image: 22.8 × 17.8 cm (9 × 7 1/16 in.); Paper: 20.1 × 25.3 cm (7 15/16 × 10 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Garage Doors

1947 · Gelatin silver print

26.2 × 34 cm (image); 27.7 × 35.3 (paper)

Art Institute of Chicago

Cable Car

1947 · Gelatin silver print

10 1/2 × 11 3/16" (26.7 × 28.4 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

WattsOS

Two Women

1946 · gelatin silver print

Image: 32.9 x 26.6 cm (12 15/16 x 10 1/2 in.); Matted: 50.8 x 40.6 cm (20 x 16 in.)

Cleveland Museum of Art

WattsOS

[View of Los Angeles. Residential Street with Oil Derricks and View of City Hall in the Background]

1945 · Gelatin silver print

Image: 7 1/16 × 9 1/2 in. (17.9 × 24.1 cm) Mount: 19 7/8 × 15 1/16 in. (50.5 × 38.3 cm) Mat: 22 1/16 in. × 16 in. (56 × 40.6 cm)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

View all 14 artworks →

Artwork sources (4)

14 published of 15 catalogued · 11 with image

Art Institute Chicago
9 published9 img
Cleveland Museum of Art
3 published
MoMA
1 publishedof 2 catalogued2 img
The Met
1 published

Per-Artwork Provenance Chains (top 3)

3 entries · 1 sources

Two Women
1946 · Cleveland · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
View from Twin Peaks
1947 · Cleveland · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
Untitled
1947 · Cleveland · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number

Record

Images

Artsy

Wikipedia

Relationships

Movements1

Photography

Collections5

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

Institutional

Representation & Collections

In collection

Museum of Modern Art

New York, US

In collection

Art Institute of Chicago

In collection

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

In collection

Cleveland Museum of Art

Market

Auction sale history

Houses that have sold works by this artist at auction

Auction house

Artsy

Record

Exhibitions and timeline

Group Exhibition New Standpoints: Photography, 1940�1955

New York · 1978

Group Exhibition Word and Image: Posters and Typography from the Graphic Design Collection of the Museum of Modern Art, 1879�1967

New York · 1968