Portraying the Mask: Personas in Philippe Halsman’s Images

Curated by Associate Professor Lisa Lipinski’s History of Exhibitions class, this exhibition explores the work of Philippe Halsman, whose portraits of mid-Twentieth-century cultural icons reveal the stress between public persona and personal identification. Halsman (1906–1979), who arrived within the United States in 1940 after fleeing antisemitic persecution, revolutionized portrait pictures by theatrical staging, ingenious choreography, and daring experimentation.

Structured across the themes of Comedy, Theatricality, Femininity, and the Mask Abstracted, the exhibition examines how Halsman inspired his topics to take part in their very own acts of masking — whereas concurrently questioning whether or not pictures can ever seize an genuine self. The exhibition provides a compelling dialogue with the Maria Callas costumes, uniting pictures and efficiency by concepts of identification and presentation.

Image: Philippe Halsman, Allen Funt, Durward Kirby, Marilyn Van Herbur, 1960, gelatin silver print

Gift of Lawrence Benenson, 1983 (P.83.18.165) © Philippe Halsman Estate 2025