Skip to main content

Philippe Halsman Black and White Photography

Latvian, 1906-1979

Philippe Halsman’s deep interest in the human face informed a celebrated and decades-spanning career in portrait photography. Shot in black and white, his portrait photographs feature celebrities, artists, politicians and intellectuals. The iconic photographs appeared on the covers of some of the biggest magazines, including Life, Look, Esquire and Paris Match. 

Halsman was born in Riga, Latvia, in 1906. When he was 15 years old, he discovered a camera in the attic. He fell in love with taking pictures and spent most of his allowance on his new hobby. He later studied engineering, but left school before earning his degree and moved to Paris to pursue photography.

In the 1930s, Halsman lived in Montparnasse, the artistic center of Paris. He caught his first big break when he approached French writer André Gide to take his portrait. After that, many more writers and actors requested photographs, and Halsman began shooting for Vogue, Viola and Vu.

When World War II broke out, Halsman sent his pregnant wife and daughter to the United States. He could not go with them due to his Latvian passport. As luck would have it, he was pen pals with famed physicist Albert Einstein, who intervened and ensured that Halsman was granted a visa. He arrived in New York City in 1940.

In America, Halsman had to start from scratch. A turning point was when beauty tycoon Elizabeth Arden used one of his photographs to advertise her Victory Red lipstick. In the early 1940s, Halsman met artist Salvador Dalí, and the two became friends and partners. One of their most notable collaborations was the 1948 photograph Dalí Atomicus, which shows Dalí, his cats, canvas, furniture and water floating in the air.

Throughout the rest of his career, Halsman was a prolific contributor to Life magazine and his photographs were on the cover 101 times. In 1958, Popular Photography named him one of the “World’s Ten Greatest Photographers”.

On 1stDibs, find a collection of Philippe Halsman’s photography.

to
1
9
Overall Width
to
Overall Height
to
9
2
3
2
3
1
1
8
1
9
7
7
6
5
4
3
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
9
1
1
1
19
1,323
1,137
836
778
1
6
3
Artist: Philippe Halsman
In Voluptate Mors, Salvador Dali's portrait, 1951
By Philippe Halsman
Located in PARIS, FR
Philippe Halsman (1906-1979) In Voluptate Mors, portrait of Salvador Dali, 1951 Silver print, 1981 Stamp "Halsman/Dali copyright Philippe Halsman © 81", numbered 66/250 Dimensions of the work : 31 x 25,7 cm Dimensions of the frame : 50 x 40 cm Born in Riga in 1906, Philippe Halsman moved to Paris in the 1930s, where he set up as a photographer in the Montparnasse district. He produced portraits of artists and intellectuals of the day, including Le Corbusier, André Malraux and André Gide. In the 1930s, Philippe Halsman exhibited at the avant-garde Galerie de la Pléiade...
Category

Mid-20th Century Surrealist Philippe Halsman Black and White Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Dali in Port Ligat, 1964
By Philippe Halsman
Located in Cologne, DE
Philippe Halsman Dali in Port Ligat, 1964
Category

1960s Modern Philippe Halsman Black and White Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Dali is painting medusas head on Galas forehead
By Philippe Halsman
Located in Cologne, DE
An amazing item, with numerous stamps and notes on the back showing its active life as a press photo. The quality is fair due to decades in use. But it is absolutly unique.
Category

1950s Modern Philippe Halsman Black and White Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Phillipe Halsman Portrait Photography Lauren Bacall Black and White Framed 1944
By Philippe Halsman
Located in Buffalo, NY
The work offered for sale here is an original vintage silver gelatin print hand created by Halsman in 1944 and exhibited at the International Center for Photography. Philippe Halsman was at one point considered the best photo-portraitist in France. He had an incessant interest in faces: “Every face I see seems to hide—and sometimes fleetingly reveal—the mystery of another human being.” Halsman’s photographs of politicians, celebrities, and intellectuals were featured widely in magazines like LIFE and Vogue. His more famous subjects included the likes of Marc Chagall, Le Corbusier, Audrey Hepburn, and Albert Einstein. He also had a 37-year collaboration with Salvador Dalí, which resulted in several famous surrealist series including the “Dalí’s Mustache” portraits...
Category

1940s Modern Philippe Halsman Black and White Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin, Wood

Dali Atomicus
By Philippe Halsman
Located in New York, NY
Philippe Halsman Dali Atomicus 1948/c. 1969-70 Signed twice in pencil, verso; Also titled and dated in pencil, verso; Also studio stamp in black ink, verso Vintage gelatin silver ...
Category

1940s Contemporary Philippe Halsman Black and White Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Unknown (Dali, A Seated Dwarf, And Models On Pedestal)
By Philippe Halsman
Located in New York, NY
Unknown (Dali, A Seated Dwarf, And Models On Pedestal) 11x14 inches
Category

Late 20th Century Philippe Halsman Black and White Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Dali's Mustache
By Philippe Halsman
Located in New York, NY
Dali's Mustache, 1953 11x14 inches Edition of 250
Category

1950s Philippe Halsman Black and White Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Dali In Port Lligat
By Philippe Halsman
Located in New York, NY
Dali In Port Lligat, 1964 11x14 inches Edition of 250
Category

1960s Philippe Halsman Black and White Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Dali Fishing
By Philippe Halsman
Located in New York, NY
Dali Fishing, 1954 11x14 inches Edition of 250
Category

1950s Philippe Halsman Black and White Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Related Items
Macaroni, from Bauhaus I Portfolio
By Irene Bayer
Located in Denton, TX
Bauhaus I Portfolio Ed. 33/70 Signed and dated in black ink on print margin.
Category

1920s Modern Philippe Halsman Black and White Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Warren Beatty, Silver Gelatin Print
By Jack Robinson
Located in Memphis, TN
Warren Beatty (b.1937) dropped out of Northwestern University to study acting with Stella Adler. He made his film debut in Elia Kazan’s Splendor in the Grass...
Category

1960s Philippe Halsman Black and White Photography

Materials

Photographic Film, Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin

Roger Jackson 'Park Stones" Rolling Stones Limited Edition Photograph 16x12
Located in San Rafael, CA
January 11, 1967: Top British pop group the Rolling Stones taking a stroll through London's Green Park, from left to right, Mick Jagger, Bill Wyman, Charlie Watts, Brian Jones (1942 ...
Category

1960s Contemporary Philippe Halsman Black and White Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin

Sparring - Chris Smith, Muhammad Ali, Ali, boxing, black and white, 20x30 in
Located in London, GB
Chris Smith (b.1937) Sparring silver gelatin fibre based print 20 x 30 in. / 34.5 x 48 in. / 46 x 66 in. signed and numbered printed later This work is available in the following si...
Category

Late 20th Century Contemporary Philippe Halsman Black and White Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin

El Capitan, Yosemite Valley
By Ansel Adams
Located in Pacific Grove, CA
This vintage silver gelatin photograph, printed in the late 1920s on Kodak Vitava Athena paper, is signed in pencil beneath the image with a typeset title centered in the lower margi...
Category

1920s Modern Philippe Halsman Black and White Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Andy Warhol at his Factory at 33 Union Square, LAST ONE signed by Jack Mitchell
By Jack Mitchell
Located in Senoia, GA
11 x 14 inch vintage silver gelatin photograph of Andy Warhol at his Factory at 33 Union Square West in New York City with 16mm film reels and posters for Tu...
Category

1960s Pop Art Philippe Halsman Black and White Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Frida in front of the Unfinished Unity Panel, New Workers School, NY
By Lucienne Bloch
Located in Denton, TX
This photograph is a black and white portrait of Frida Kahlo in front of the Unfinished Unity Panel at the New Yorkers School in New York, taken by Lucienne Bloch. The medium of this...
Category

20th Century Modern Philippe Halsman Black and White Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Phil Hill, Ferrari. 1561F2, Nurburgring, Germany
By Jesse Alexander
Located in Denton, TX
No Edition Signed in black ink on print margin by Jesse Alexander Gelatin silver print Paper size: 14 x 11 in. Image size: 9 1/2 x 9 1/2 in. "Soon-to-be World Champion Phil Hill is in his first Grand Prix drive for Ferrari. The car is a single seater Formula Two machine, and he is seen rushing downhill through the infamous "Fuchsröhre" section of the Ring. The image is unusual for several reasons: it was taken with a Rolleiflex camera...
Category

1950s Modern Philippe Halsman Black and White Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Orpheus #1 - Balanchine Ballet with Francisco Moncion and Nicholas Magallanes
By George Platt Lynes
Located in Glenford, NY
George Platt Lynes 1948 Photograph #1 of Balanchine Ballet ‘Orpheus’. George Platt Lynes rare original vintage 1948 silver gelatin photograph (dated by the NY City Public Library) of nude dancers Francisco Moncion and Nicholas Magallanes in George Balanchine's iconic mid-20th Century ballet Orpheus. Stamped on verso in dark blue ink at upper center, "GEORGE PLATT LYNES/145 EAST 52 STREET NEW YORK”. Photo shoot took place in NYC. Costumes and Set by ISAMU NAGUCHI. Photo is 7 5/8 x 9 1/4 inches, soft satin finish in excellent condition. This photograph is one from my collection of 14 different poses in this series of nude photographs of Moncion and Magallanes in Orpheus by Platt Lynes. 8 different photography are remaining and are available on request. Original stamped by the artist gelatin silver prints are rare. Photographs from this celebrated series are in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (NYC), Museum of Modern Art (MOMA, NYC), the NYC Public Library, and many university art archives. George Platt Lynes (1907–1955), was a gregarious American portrait, dance, fashion, and male nude photographer whose career spanned the late 1920s through the early 1950s. From age eighteen, Lynes entered the cosmopolitan world of the American expatriate community in Paris when he became acquainted with the salon of Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas. He began photographing authors like Stein, Jean Cocteau, André Gide, and Colette and soon established himself as one of the premier fashion photographers in the Condé Nast stable, documenting the ballet companies of George Balanchine/Lincoln Kirstein, and pursuing a private obsession with seductive images of young male nudes rarely published in his lifetime. Orpheus represents a major 20th Century artistic collaboration between composer Igor Stravinsky, choreographer George Ballanchine, and artist/designer Isamu Naguchi. Orpheus is a thirty-minute neoclassical ballet composed by Igor Stravinsky in collaboration with choreographer George Balanchine in Hollywood, California in 1947. The work was commissioned by Ballet Society, later renamed New York City Ballet, which Balanchine founded with Lincoln Kirstein. Sets and costumes were created by Isamu Noguchi. Noguchi’s lyre harp from the production became the symbol of the New York City Ballet. Francisco Moncion (July 6, 1918 – April 1, 1995) was a charter member of the New York City Ballet. Over the course of his forty year career, choreographers George Balanchine, and Jerome Robbins in the New York City Ballet created 22 major roles for Moncion including the Dark Angel...
Category

1940s Modern Philippe Halsman Black and White Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Nude Male Model, Unique Silver Gelatin Print.
By Andy Warhol
Located in Cotignac, FR
Unique Silver Gelatin print from circa 1977 by Andy Warhol. Andy Warhol carried a camera with him obsessively. Similarly to his tape recorder, he used this technology not only as an...
Category

1970s American Modern Philippe Halsman Black and White Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Portrait of Imogen Cunningham - Black & White Photograph
By Robert Werling
Located in Soquel, CA
A stunning black and white photographic portrait of Imogen Cunningham (1883-1976) by California photographer, Robert Werling (b. 1946). Signed and dated by the artist on the mat, low...
Category

1970s Realist Philippe Halsman Black and White Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin

Flipping Boy, 4th Ward, Houston, TX by Earlie Hudnall, Jr., 1983
By Earlie Hudnall Jr.
Located in Denton, TX
Flipping Boy, 4th Ward, Houston, TX by Earlie Hudnall, Jr. is a 14 x 11 inch silver gelatin print. This photograph features a boy flipping in the street, with people watching from the sidewalk and the skyline of Houston in the background. This photograph is signed, titled, and dated in pencil on print verso by Earlie Hudnall, Jr. Earlie Hudnall, who is one of the most notable African American...
Category

1980s Contemporary Philippe Halsman Black and White Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Previously Available Items
In Voluptas Mors (Dalí)
By Philippe Halsman
Located in Dallas, TX
In 1951, Salvador Dali, everyone's favorite mustachioed surrealist, teamed up with Magnum photographer Philippe Halsman to create one of the most enchanting, morbid and bizarre photographs of all time. Entitled "In Voluptas Mors," or Voluptuous Death, the black-and-white photo stars a melange of nude women, expertly arranged to resemble a macabre skull. Dali stands next to the literal human skull, quizzically eyeing the viewer like some sort of dubious ringmaster. Halsman and Dali originally met in 1941, and embarked on a series of collaborations over the next 30 years, including a compendium of Dali's famed mustaches. (We're glad to know Halsman had the same appreciation for them that we do.) Yet no work has the legacy of "Voluptuous Death," which combines Halsman's knack for stunning psychological portraiture with a little Dali-esque weirdness. A cache of photographs delving behind-the-scenes of the iconic artwork has recently resurfaced, showing that arranging a bunch of naked people...
Category

1950s Surrealist Philippe Halsman Black and White Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper

Alfred Hitchcock and Francois Truffaut Hollywood California USA 1962
By Philippe Halsman
Located in Toronto, ON
18" x 24" Unframed Limited Edition Photograph of 200 MAGNUM Photography
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Philippe Halsman Black and White Photography

Materials

Archival Paper, C Print, Digital

Gina Lollobrigida Jumping, Black and White Vintage Photograph of Hollywood 1950s
By Philippe Halsman
Located in New york, NY
Gina Lollobrigida jumping, c1950 by Philippe Halsman captures the zeitgeist of mid-century Hollywood. This is a 10" x 8" vintage gelatin silver photograph -- a black and white photog...
Category

1950s Contemporary Philippe Halsman Black and White Photography

Materials

Photographic Film, Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin

Professor Albert Einstein, An Iconic Gelatin Silver Portrait Photograph 1940s
By Philippe Halsman
Located in New york, NY
This is a black and white portrait photograph of Professor Albert Einstein in his Study at Princeton, in 1947, by Philippe Halsman. A 14" x 11" (sheet size) hand-signed on back of ph...
Category

1940s Contemporary Philippe Halsman Black and White Photography

Materials

Photographic Film, Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin

Marilyn Monroe, Vintage Gelatin Silver Photograph 1950s of Actress with Barbells
By Philippe Halsman
Located in New york, NY
A black and white portrait photograph of one of the most famous celebrities of the 20th century -- actress Marilyn Monroe with Barbells, 1952 by Philippe Halsman. This is a signed (verso) vintage gelatin silver print - with photographer's copyright stamp, signature, and hand-written title "Marilyn Monroe Lifting Barbells" verso (back of photo). In mid-century America and internationally known Marilyn Monroe became a favorite muse for photographers such as Ernst Haas, Philippe Halsman, and Bert Stern who immortalized her through their images. With her breathy voice and hourglass figure, Monroe remains today a larger than life personality and Hollywood star still appreciated worldwide. MM exuded sensuality and vulnerability for an adoring public but the American goddess...
Category

1950s Contemporary Philippe Halsman Black and White Photography

Materials

Photographic Film, Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin

Marilyn Monroe, Black and White Portrait Photography for Life Mag (Variant)
By Philippe Halsman
Located in New york, NY
A black and white vintage portrait photograph of actress, Marilyn Monroe, in 1952 by celebrity photographer Philippe Halsman - this portra...
Category

1950s Contemporary Philippe Halsman Black and White Photography

Materials

Photographic Film, Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin

Marilyn Monroe, Iconic Gelatin Silver Photograph of Hollywood Actress for TIME
By Philippe Halsman
Located in New york, NY
A black and white iconic portrait photograph of Hollywood actress Marilyn Monroe by Philippe Halsman, selected for the cover of life magazine, 1952. This is a 16" x 12" lifetime print from the 1970s, signed by Philippe Halsman on verso (back of photo). In mid-century America and internationally well-known Marilyn Monroe became a favorite muse for photographers such as Ernst Haas, Philippe Halsman, and Bert Stern who immortalized her through their images. ’With her breathy voice and hourglass figure, Monroe remains today a larger than life personality and Hollywood star still appreciated worldwide. MM exuded sensuality and vulnerability for an adoring public but the American goddess...
Category

1950s Contemporary Philippe Halsman Black and White Photography

Materials

Photographic Film, Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin

Ballerina Enrica Soma, Hollywood, 1949
By Philippe Halsman
Located in Soquel, CA
Enrica Soma (May 9, 1929 – January 29, 1969) was an American socialite, model, and prima-ballerina. She was also the wife of director John Huston and mother of actress Anjelica Husto...
Category

1940s Realist Philippe Halsman Black and White Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin

Philippe Halsman black and white photography for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Philippe Halsman black and white photography available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Philippe Halsman in silver gelatin print, paper, archival paper and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 20th century and is mostly associated with the modern style. Not every interior allows for large Philippe Halsman black and white photography, so small editions measuring 8 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Jack Delano, Lucienne Bloch, and Josef Sudek. Philippe Halsman black and white photography prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $1,150 and tops out at $5,562, while the average work can sell for $1,500.

Recently Viewed

View All