Untitled
1992 · Gelatin silver print
Image: 32.4 × 26.4 cm (12 13/16 × 10 7/16 in.); Paper: 35.4 × 27.6 cm (13 15/16 × 10 7/8 in.)
Art Institute of Chicago
WATTS INDEXThe canonical database of visual culture
Jerry Uelsmann
Artist
PhotographySurrealismPhotography
Representation
None documented
17
Institutional Exhibitions
60
Works in Collection
89
Assets Indexed
0
Authority-backed Facts
0
Publications Referenced
90%
Profile Completeness
Cultural Positioning
Movements
- • Surrealism
- • Photography
Related Artists
No edges recorded
Influence Graph
No influence edges encoded yet.
Selected Institutional Exhibitions
View all exhibitions →No image
Contemporary Photography Reinstallation
Museum of Modern Art, New York
1986
No image
Self Portrait: The Photographer's Persona, 1840�1985
Museum of Modern Art, New York
1985–1986
No image
Inside Spaces
Museum of Modern Art, New York
1981
No image
Reinstallation of the Collection
Museum of Modern Art, New York
1980
No image
Edward Steichen Photography Center Reinstallation
Museum of Modern Art, New York
1979
About
Why this artist matters now
Jerry Uelsmann was an American photographer known for his large-scale black-and-white composite photographs created through darkroom manipulation and printing techniques. Working primarily from the 1960s onward, he constructed surreal landscapes and figure studies by combining multiple negatives and hand-painting during the printing process, predating digital montage by decades. His work challenged the documentary authority of photography, treating the darkroom as a space of invention rather than reproduction. Uelsmann's formally precise yet dreamlike images established him as a central figure in postwar experimental photography.
Source: Moma Bulk 2026 05 04 · Trust score: 92% · Updated 25d ago
Graph relationships
Taste overlap and adjacency
Movement
Surrealism
Medium
Photography
Related Artists
12 in graph
Institutional
Museum Collections
Canonical record
Artworks (60)
View all 60 artworks →
Record
Images
Related artists
Adjacent in the graph
Richard Long
Shared movement
Joan Brossa
Shared movement
Jérémie Marié
Shared movement
Martin Schongauer
Shared movement
Andrea Büttner
Shared movement
Roger Ballen
Shared movement
Alfred Stieglitz
Also photography
Raymond Pettibon
Also photography
Irving Penn
Also photography
Roy DeCarava
Also photography
Joan Fontcuberta
Also photography
Steven Shearer
Also photography
Record
Movements and affiliations
Institutional
Representation & Collections
In collection
Museum of Modern Art
New York, US
In collection
Art Institute of Chicago
Market
Auction sale history
Houses that have sold works by this artist at auction
Market
Auction History
Range: $250 – $300
| Work | Auction House | Date | Estimate | Hammer Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Artsy | Mar 2026 | $800 – $1,200 | $300 | |
| Artsy | Mar 2026 | $700 – $900 | Unsold | |
| Artsy | Mar 2026 | $800 – $1,200 | Unsold | |
| Artsy | Mar 2025 | $1,000 – $2,000 | $250 |
Record