Portrait Photographs of Artists

Philippe Halsman, Salvador Dali, 1949,

Philippe Halsman, American, born in Latvia, 1906-1979, Salvador Dali, 1949, Gelatin silver print, Gift of G.W. Einstein Company, Inc.,1989.28 © Philippe Halsman Archive

May 1 - July 14, 2013

“Almost 110 years ago, WAM became one of the first institutions to exhibit photography as a fine art. It knew what it was doing then. It knows what it’s doing now.”
Mark Feeney, The Boston Globe (read the full review)

It is a long-held truism of art history that representational artists often invent figures that look like themselves. For many viewers, there is a perception that knowing how an artist looks helps one better understand the artist's experience, and perhaps relate more directly to their work. Drawn from the permanent collection of the Worcester Art Museum, "Portraits of Artists" will present sixty photographic portraits chronicling over a century of American and European artists. There are formal portraits, images intended for publication, and snapshots of artists at work and play. Further, many of the wide-ranging painters, sculptors, photographers, and printmakers featured in this exhibition are can be found in other galleries throughout the Museum.

Special Feature

Read an interview with Nancy Burns, Curatorial Assistant of Prints, Drawings and Photographs