• André Kertész – Photographs

    Date posted: August 16, 2011 Author: jolanta

     Today, 25 after his death, André Kertész (1894-1985) is famous for his extraordinary contribution to the language of photography in the 20th century. His exceptionally long career spanned three different places, and he suffered from having to cope with three cultures and three languages: in Hungary, where he was born but was unable to fulfil his ambition; in Paris, where he rapidly became one of the key figures of avant-garde photography; and finally in New York, where he spent most of his life, but where his approach met with incomprehension (symbolized by the Melancholic Tulip of 1939).


    André Kertész, Washington Square, January 9, 1954, 1954. Gelatin silver print, vintage print. Collection of Leslie, Judith, and Gabrielle Schreyer.

    “Although he was technically very accomplished, his photography was inextricably linked to his own inner life, affirming the overriding importance of emotion in what was an independent quest, which can be compared to a private visual diary …”

    André Kertész – Photographs

    Martin-Gropius-Bau

    Today, 25 after his death, André Kertész (1894-1985) is famous for his extraordinary contribution to the language of photography in the 20th century. His exceptionally long career spanned three different places, and he suffered from having to cope with three cultures and three languages: in Hungary, where he was born but was unable to fulfil his ambition; in Paris, where he rapidly became one of the key figures of avant-garde photography; and finally in New York, where he spent most of his life, but where his approach met with incomprehension (symbolized by the Melancholic Tulip of 1939).

    It was not until around 1963 that Kertész, recovering the negatives that had been left behind in France, and benefiting from the growing attention being paid to photography in general, experienced a period of renewal in his work and gradually achieved fame. Following the death of his wife Elizabeth in 1977, Kertész, who had become an American citizen in 1944, created The André and Elizabeth Kertész Foundation in New York. But he remained a Parisian at heart, and in 1984 he bequeathed his negatives and archives to France (currently conserved at the Médiathèque de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine).

    In selecting, as far as possible, vintage prints or prints approved by the photographer, and by drawing on a large number of archive documents, this retrospective seeks to reveal the continuity and single-mindedness of Kertész’s approach—an approach that, in spite of changes in circumstances, themes and styles, he remained true to for several decades: “I have never just ‘made photos.’ I express myself photographically,” said Kertész. Although he was technically very accomplished, his photography was inextricably linked to his own inner life, affirming the overriding importance of emotion in what was an independent quest, which can be compared to a private visual diary: “I interpret what I feel in a given moment. Not what I see, but what I feel.” The simplicity and modesty of this man—his Hungarian name means “gardener”—calls for an intuitive appreciation, and Kertész’s uniquely poetic work invites us to draw on our own imagination when looking at a particular photograph. Roland Barthes was right when he drew attention to the undeniable originality of Kertész’s “reflective photography”—photography that “makes us think.”

    This retrospective has been organized by the Jeu de Paume, Paris, in cooperation with the Martin-Gropius-Bau in Berlin.

    André Kertész – Photographs is on view until September 11th, 2011.

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