Jean Cocteau: "The Final Touch"
Philippe Halsman
American, born Latvia. 1906–1979
1949
A gelatin silver print portrait by Philippe Halsman that famously stages a celebrated cultural figure within an ornate frame as hands apply the titular ‘final touch,’ calling attention to the performative construction of a public image.
You are struck by the theatrical layering — a serene, frontal face perfectly framed by carved wood, a hand poised with a brush, and a powerful nude back sweeping across the foreground — all in sharp black-and-white clarity.
This image typifies Halsman’s mid-century practice of turning celebrity portraiture into staged, collaborative tableaux that reveal how photography constructs identity and spectacle.
Medium
Gelatin silver print
Dimensions
13 3/8 × 10 13/16" (34 × 27.5 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Gift of Jane Halsman Bello
Accession
771.1998
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
