'The Beauty and The Beast'

Vintage Photography by Phillippe Halsman | Portfolios of Marilyn Monroe & Salvador Dali

Exhibition Statement

Phillippe Halsman (1906-1979) is known as one of the great portraiture photographers of the Twentieth Century.  Halsman photographed many prominent celebrities and politicians and was frequently published in Life and Vogue during the mid 1900s.  Halsman is renowned for his sharp closely cropped images, his surrealist collaborations with Salvador Dali and for his impressive ability to capture the ‘real’ personalities of the subjects he was photographing.

The Beauty and The Beast collection features two of Halsman’s portraiture portfolios - one of Marilyn Monroe (The Beauty) and the other Salvador Dali (The Beast). Each portfolio consists of ten 11” x 14” vintage silver gelatin black and white archivally processed photographs, mounted to 16” x 20” museum quality rag board.  The negatives used to print these images are now retired.  Each image is estate stamped and numbered.  There was a limited edition of 250 copies of full portfolios ever made and each complete portfolio is approved and signed by Yvonne Halsman, Phillippe Halsman’s wife.  The prints are available for individual sale.

Lee Strasberg, Marilyn Monroe’s acting teacher, on Halsman’s photography of Marilyn Monroe:

“[Photographs] give a more diverse and multi-faceted image than the roles that [Marilyn Monroe] played.  She would in time have revealed greater aspects of her talent.  But even they would not offer us the opportunity to see her as we are privileged to observe her through the lens of [Phillippe Halsman] as the present collection represents.”

Yvonne Halsman, Phillippe Halsman’s wife, on Halsman’s photography of Salvador Dali:

“For nearly thirty five years, the association between Halsman and [Salvador Dali] never ceased to sparkle…he [Dali] always came promptly, asked for a Coca Cola, and then Dali and Phillippe would start to discuss animatedly the possibility of making and exciting or outrageous photographs which would sometimes relate to Dali’s new painting or to the new scientific discoveries of the world.” 

Phillippe Halsman on his relationship with Salvador Dali:

“He [Dali] is one of the most brilliant and stimulating men I ever photographed.  He is a great painter and the last and only great mustache of our time.  Dali and I are different in every respect. And still in some strange way, we are kindred spirits.  Dali is irresistibly attractive to me – especially when a camera happens to be in my hands.”