WATTS INDEXThe canonical database of visual culture

Artists›John Coplans

John Coplans

1920

WA-00003872

Photography

Representation

None documented

Institutional Exhibitions

Works in Collection

Assets Indexed

Authority-backed Facts

Publications Referenced

70%

Profile Completeness

Cultural Positioning

Influence Graph

No influence edges encoded yet.

Authority Records (2)

WikidataQ3181269

MoMA

Field Verification (2 fields)

1 cross-verified · 1 single-source

Birth yearArtsy· 85%✓
NationalityArtsy· 85%

Source Registry (2)

MoMA bulk 2026-05-04https://www.moma.org/artists/1237
Tier 1 · Institutional92%
Paula-Cooper
Tier 3 · Scraped/inferred60%

About

Why this artist matters now

John Coplans made large-scale black-and-white photographs of his own aging body, always excluding his head, transforming anonymous sections of flesh into monumental abstract forms. Beginning this body of work in his sixties, after careers as a curator, museum director, and Editor-in-Chief of Artforum, he brought an art-critical rigour to a practice that treated the aging male body as both subject and formal problem. The photographs resist portraiture while insisting on physical presence, their scale and tonal severity refusing sentiment. His work has been exhibited widely across Europe and North America.

Source: Moma Bulk 2026 05 04 · Trust score: 92% · Updated 28d ago

Graph relationships

Taste overlap and adjacency

Movement

—

Medium

Photography

Related Artists

6 in graph

Institutional

Museum Collections

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Cleveland Museum of Art Art Institute of Chicago Tate

Canonical record

Artworks (20)

Self-Portrait (Frieze No. 2, Four Panels)

1994 · 4 photographs, black and white, on paper

support: 619 x 800 mm frame x 4: 1980 x 880 mm

Tate

Self-Portrait (Back No. 16)

1992 · Photograph, black and white, on paper on board

Tate

Self-Portrait (feet)

1989 · Vintage gelatin silver prints (6)

Each: 53 × 42.7 cm (20 7/8 × 16 13/16 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

WattsOS

Self-Portrait (with Head)

1988 · gelatin silver print

Image: 133.7 x 100.5 cm (52 5/8 x 39 9/16 in.)

Cleveland Museum of Art

Self-Portrait

1987 · Gelatin silver print (triptych)

Approx.: 96.6 × 249 cm (38 × 98 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Self-Portrait (Hands Spread on Knees)

1985 · Photograph, black and white, on paper

image: 968 x 1108 mm

Tate

Self-Portrait (Side Torso Bent with Large Upper Arm II)

1985 · Gelatin silver print

Image: 45.6 × 56.4 cm (18 × 22 1/4 in.); Paper: 50.8 × 60.8 cm (20 × 23 15/16 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Self-Portrait

1985 · Gelatin silver print

Image: 52.2 × 64.8 cm (20 9/16 × 25 9/16 in.); Paper: 55.9 × 68.6 cm (22 1/16 × 27 1/16 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Self-Portrait

1985 · Gelatin silver print

Image: 36 × 43.8 cm (14 3/16 × 17 1/4 in.); Paper: 50.4 × 63.4 cm (19 7/8 × 25 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Self-Portrait (Torso, Front)

1984 · Photograph, black and white, on paper

image: 1156 x 817 mm

Tate

Self-Portrait (Back with Arms Above)

1984 · Photograph, black and white, on paper

image: 1213 x 935 mm

Tate

Self-Portrait (Feet Frontal)

1984 · Photograph, black and white, on paper

1984 · gelatin silver print

Image: 57.4 x 43.8 cm (22 5/8 x 17 1/4 in.); Paper: 60.7 x 50.7 cm (23 7/8 x 19 15/16 in.); Matted: 76.2 x 61 cm (30 x 24 in.)

Cleveland Museum of Art

WattsOS

Frances and Donald

1984 · gelatin silver print

Image: 42.6 x 53.5 cm (16 3/4 x 21 1/16 in.); Paper: 50.7 x 60.6 cm (19 15/16 x 23 7/8 in.); Matted: 61 x 71.1 cm (24 x 28 in.)

Cleveland Museum of Art

WattsOS

Torso, Front, 1984

1984 · Gelatin silver print

44.4 x 31.3 cm. (17 1/2 x 12 5/16 in.)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

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Michele, Jeremy and Jordan

1983 · gelatin silver print

Image: 43 x 54.8 cm (16 15/16 x 21 9/16 in.); Paper: 50.8 x 60.6 cm (20 x 23 7/8 in.); Matted: 61 x 71.1 cm (24 x 28 in.)

Cleveland Museum of Art

WattsOS

Mummer's Parade, Philadelphia

1982 · gelatin silver print

Image: 60.1 x 81.5 cm (23 11/16 x 32 1/16 in.); Paper: 63.9 x 78.9 cm (25 3/16 x 31 1/16 in.); Matted: 80.6 x 96.2 cm (31 3/4 x 37 7/8 in.)

Cleveland Museum of Art

WattsOS

Columbus Day Parade, New York

1981 · gelatin silver print

Image: 58 x 74 cm (22 13/16 x 29 1/8 in.); Paper: 61.3 x 76 cm (24 1/8 x 29 15/16 in.); Matted: 76.2 x 91.4 cm (30 x 36 in.)

Cleveland Museum of Art

Angela and Peter

1980 · Gelatin silver print

Image: 32.9 × 45.7 cm (13 × 18 in.); Paper: 40.3 × 50.7 cm (15 7/8 × 20 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

WattsOS

Irving

1980 · gelatin silver print

Image: 43 x 32.9 cm (16 15/16 x 12 15/16 in.); Paper: 50.8 x 40.6 cm (20 x 16 in.); Matted: 61 x 50.8 cm (24 x 20 in.)

Cleveland Museum of Art

View all 20 artworks →

Artwork sources (5)

20 published of 45 catalogued · 36 with image

Cleveland Museum of Art
7 published
Tate
6 published6 img
Art Institute Chicago
6 published6 img
The Met
1 published
+ 1 more source · 25 catalogued, not yet published

Per-Artwork Provenance Chains (top 10)

10 entries · 1 sources

Frances and Donald
1984 · Cleveland · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
Irving
1980 · Cleveland · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
Feet Frontal
1984 · Cleveland · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
Self-Portrait (Feet Frontal)
1984 · Tate · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
Self-Portrait (Back with Arms Above)
1984 · Tate · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
Mummer's Parade, Philadelphia
1982 · Cleveland · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
Self-Portrait (with Head)
1988 · Cleveland · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
Columbus Day Parade, New York
1981 · Cleveland · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
Michele, Jeremy and Jordan
1983 · Cleveland · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
Self-Portrait (Torso, Front)
1984 · Tate · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number

Record

Images

Artsy

Art Institute of Chicago

"Frieze, No. 2, Four Panels, 1994" by John Coplans

Wikimedia Commons (Instagram fallback)

Relationships

Collections4

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Cleveland Museum of Art Art Institute of Chicago Tate

Institutional

Representation & Collections

In collection

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

In collection

Cleveland Museum of Art

In collection

Art Institute of Chicago

In collection

Tate

Record

Exhibitions and timeline

No exhibitions or timeline entries yet