Halsman’s Photos at George Washington University

Recently exhibited at George Washington University, “Portraying the Mask: Personas in Philippe Halsman’s Photography” offered an opportunity to examine the work of the Jewish Latvian American portraitist, Philippe Halsman (1906-1979), a master of technique known for his high key lighting, dreamlike settings and gestures, including his own invention, “jumpology.” Curated from the university’s extensive Halsman collection, “Portraying the Mask” focuses on entertainers who are photographed with the attributes or props with which they were identified, including the mask.

The photographer’s stylized aesthetic governs these works, which resonate with psychic intensity, even when his sitters pose as their onstage characters of public personas. Here, the camera captures what his sitters would not or could not show the world.

Many of Halsman’s legendary subjects are displayed, while information about others who are included enhances appreciation. The scarecrow from “The Wizard of Oz,” a grimacing Ray Bolger, is photographed in the lacy bonnet he wore for his celebrated portrayal of Charley’s Aunt, the crossdressing hero of a Victorian farce. Lugging a cello and sporting a skewed fedora, Lucille Ball needs no prop mask to channel deadpan comics like Buster Keaton or Charlie Chaplin: the facial contortions are her own. A tribute to team spirit, the collective portrait of the trio hosting the popular television show “Candid Camera” whimsically charts their individual trajectories from the earthbound (a distressed Durward Kirby, barely off the ground) to the ethereal (a transcendent Marilyn Van Derbur, soaring skyward).

Living in Paris during the 1930s, Halsman was known for his fashion work and portraits of well-known people in the arts. His association with another Jewish master photographer, Man Ray, inspired his surrealist bent, which grew after his arrival in the United States. His collaborations with Salvador Dali further contributed to his trademark style.

Even when the viewer studies his amazing self-portraits, Halsman himself remains inscrutable. As a young man, he was wrongly convicted of the murder of his father, during a hiking trip in Austria. The case was never solved, but an anti-Semitic justice system was to blame for his two-year imprisonment. A cause célèbre championed by Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud and Thomas Mann, Halsman was finally pardoned; the incident is not generally known. Did he continue to suffer from the experience, developing his own mask to hide his trauma, or did he emerge unscathed, to forge a new vision manifested in the joyous exuberance of “jumpology”?

Muriel’s Songs

Until recent decades, it was rare that vocal works from the classical repertory featured stories of a woman’s life narrated in the first person. Music lovers recognize Robert Schmann’s 1840 “Frauenliebe und-leben,” a song cycle in which a young girl describes her marriage and later lifelong devotion to her husband, as a milestone.

With “Muriel’s Songs,” by the multi-talented Brandeis University-based musician Eric Chasalow about his grandmother, Muriel, (1903-2000) the narrator seems to be aware of her listeners, as she remembers aspects of her life and shares her memories.

Incorporating excerpts from Muriel’s own journal, Chasalow’s poetry gives his grandmother a distinctive

voice; the lyrics invite audiences to experience the montage of the 20th century through her eyes, ears and voice. His music also travels through time, spanning the eras from Ragtime (her Brooklyn childhood) to the Beatles (her fondness for her grandchild, the composer), with an extended Baroque lament and a little dissonant modernism provided as bonus attractions.

The composer has commented on his work, which he considers an homage to Muriel and his own family: “Muriel Gellert Chasalow was one of the most confident and centered people I have known. When I set out to write my song cycle in 2023, I read through her collection, “Years of Understanding,” many times and found that the language in many of her stories made them especially vivid for me since I could remember the sound of her voice, its pitch, cadence and rhythm. So right away there was music…

The pages [her text] also reminded me of her ability to see details in her surroundings that others might miss, to reconcile tensions that many would find upsetting and, in general, to be fascinated by and to find great joy in the everyday. She was a true optimist who enjoyed recounting life’s adventures, even those that were very challenging…”

Making its April 23 New York premiere at YIVO in a performance by Sharon Harms and the Talea Ensemble, “Muriel’s Songs” brings Muriel’s persona to life, with all its many transformations through the years. Yet a part of her will remain elusive and mysterious to listeners, intentional on the part of the composer.

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Cheryl Kempler is an art and music specialist who works in the B’nai B’rith International Curatorial Office and writes about history and Jewish culture for B’nai B’rith Magazine. To view some of her additional content, click here.