Andre Kertesz 1894-1985
One of the most widely respected photographers of the twentieth century, Kertész (1894-1985) worked through a long career which took him from Hungary to Paris and then New York.
Engaged with realism and surrealism, Kertész' subjects included the streets around him as well as artist's studios and a famous series of surreal nudes that he named 'Distortions.'
While working as a clerk on the Budapest Stock Exchange from 1912 to 1914, Kertész began to experiment with photography. During World War I he served in the Hungarian army and saw action in central Europe, where he was severely wounded. He returned to the stock exchange, taking photographs in his spare time, and his photographs were occasionally printed in Hungarian magazines.
Because of the lack of artistic and political freedom in Hungary at the time, Kertész moved to Paris in 1925 to work as a freelance photographer. There he became friendly with many influential artists, including Fernand Léger, Marc Chagall, Piet Mondrian, and Tristan Tzara. Kertész's access to these individuals allowed him to create a definitive portrait of the Parisian cultural milieu of the period. In 1927 he had a well-received one-man show in Paris, and his photographs were shown the following year at the influential First Independent Salon of Photography.
In 1928 he bought a Leica, a small handheld camera that gave him the freedom to move about the streets of Paris and capture spontaneous moments of urban life, a subject that would fascinate him throughout his career. Kertész became a major contributor to the magazines Vu (which began publication in 1928) and Art et Médecine (which began publication in 1930) as well as other important illustrated periodicals in Europe, such as the Sunday Times.
In 1936 Kertész went to New York City to work for what was supposed to be a one-year project with the commercial Keystone Studios. With the advent of World War II, he remained in New York. From 1939 to 1949 he worked as a freelance photographer for American magazines such as Look, Harper's Bazaar, Vogue, and Town and Country.
In 1949 Kertész joined Condé Nast publications, under Alexander Liberman, and began to work mainly on House and Garden magazine, transforming its visual character. About 1962 he retired from commercial work and began a series of personal photography projects, earning the level of critical reception he had sought for decades. His work again focused on capturing the essence of a moment, this time often set within the bustling activity of New York. For one major project from this period he took photographs of street scenes from the window of his apartment overlooking Washington Square.
In another project he collected objects in front of this same window and created a series of still-life photographs.
Retrospectives of Kertész's work have been staged by the Museum of Modern Art (1964) and the Metropolitan Museum of Art (1985), both in New York City. Perhaps Kertész's single best-known photograph is Satiric Dancer (1926). The many books of his photographs include Day of Paris (1945), André Kertész, Photographer (1964), André Kertész: Sixty Years of Photography (1972), J'aime Paris: Photographs Since the Twenties (1974), Distortions (1976), and Kertész on Kertész: A Self-Portrait (1985).
James Hyman Photography is proud to feature vintage works by this illustrious photographer.
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Andre KerteszAndre Kertesz standing in doorway #3Vintage Gelatin Silver Print13.2 x 7.8 cms
5 3/16 x 3 1/16 insView more details. -
Andre KerteszMan and Woman at News StandVintage Gelatin Silver Print23.7 x 17.4 cms
9 5/16 x 6 13/16 insView more details. -
Andre KerteszHazy Day, Budapest, November 19, 1920, 1920Gelatin Silver Print40.64 x 50.8 cms
16 x 20 insView more details. -
Andre KerteszInterior of sculptor's studio, Paris (legs), 1925, 1925Gelatin Silver Print24.13 x 18.42 cms
9 1/2 x 7 4/16 insView more details. -
Andre KerteszChez Mondrian, Paris, 1926Gelatin Silver Print61 x 51 cms
24 1/16 x 20 1/16 insView more details. -
Andre KerteszPortrait of Mondrian (carte postale, signed), 1926Vintage Carte Postal9.53 x 6.99 cms
3 12/16 x 2 12/16 insView more details. -
Andre KerteszSatiric Dancer, Paris, 1926Gelatin Silver Print61 x 51 cms
24 1/8 x 20 1/8 insView more details. -
Andre KerteszAndre Kertesz at table with flowers, Paris, 1927Vintage Carte Postal8.23 x 10.8 cms
3 3/16 x 4 4/16 insView more details. -
Andre KerteszMeudon, 1928Gelatin Silver Print50.8 x 40.64 cms
20 x 16 insView more details. -
Andre KerteszPont des Arts, Paris, 1929Gelatin Silver Print50.8 x 40.64 cms
20 x 16 insView more details. -
Andre KerteszCarrefour Blois, 1930Gelatin Silver Print61 x 50.8 cms
24 1/16 x 20 insView more details. -
Andre KerteszEiffel Tower, Paris, 1933Gelatin silver print, mounted61 x 46 cms
24 1/16 x 18 1/16 insView more details. -
Andre KerteszElizabeth and I, 1933Vintage Gelatin Silver Print17.9 x 23.8 cms
7 1/16 x 9 5/16 insView more details. -
Andre KerteszIlya Ehrenburg, 1933Mounted exhibition photograph61 x 43 cms
24 1/16 x 16 14/16 insView more details. -
Andre KerteszNew York (men sitting at base of flag pole), 1938, 1938Gelatin Silver Print61 x 50 cms
24 1/16 x 19 10/16 insView more details. -
Andre KerteszA Pissotiere (public lavatory for men), 1939, 1939Mounted exhibition photograph48.8 x 61 cms
19 3/16 x 24 1/16 insView more details. -
Andre KerteszMelancholic Tulip, 1939Gelatin Silver Print50.8 x 40.64 cms
20 x 16 insView more details. -
Andre KerteszHoming Ship, New York, 1944Gelatin Silver Print50.8 x 40.64 cms
20 x 16 insView more details. -
Andre KerteszIn The Cellar, Williamsburg, 1948Gelatin Silver Print50.8 x 40.64 cms
20 x 16 insView more details. -
Andre KerteszCircus Acrobats, New York, 1969Vintage Gelatin Silver Print40.64 x 50.8 cms
16 x 20 insView more details. -
Andre KerteszAround St. Vincent's Hospital, November 15, 1971, 1971Vintage Gelatin Silver Print40.64 x 50.8 cms
16 x 20 insView more details. -
Andre KerteszHenry Moore's Studio with Elephant Skull and Seated Figure, England 1980, 1980Vintage Gelatin Silver Print17.15 x 24.77 cms
6 12/16 x 9 12/16 insView more details. -
Andre KerteszHenry Moore's Studio with Elephant Skull, England, 1980Vintage Gelatin Silver Print17.2 x 25 cms
6 12/16 x 9 13/16 insView more details. -
Andre KerteszParis, Window with Nadar's Portrait of Balzac, July 18, 1984, 1984Vintage Gelatin Silver Print17.78 x 24.77 cms
7 x 9 12/16 insView more details. -
Andre KerteszDistortion #34, 1933Gelatin Silver Print23.65 x 34.13 cmsSold
9 4/16 x 13 6/16 insView more details. -
Andre KerteszMartinique, January 1, 1972, 1972Vintage Gelatin Silver Print51 x 61 cmsSold
20 1/16 x 24 1/16 insView more details.
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Thinking Big
Large Scale Photographs from the Estate of Andre Kertesz 18 May - 30 Sep 2016After the Second World War Kertesz began increasingly to return to his earlier works to print them at an enlarged size or to print new pictures at an unprecedented scale....Read more -
Andre Kertesz in Europe
13 May - 13 Jun 2015The exhibition - the first of its kind to focus on Kertesz's European work along - spans the photographer's whole career and features well-known images as well as several unknown...Read more -
Convulsive Beauty
Surrealist Photography and its Legacy 6 Jan - 5 Feb 2011James Hyman Photography's newest exhibition Convulsive Beauty explores the legacy of the Surrealist's psychological, physical, spacial and sexual freedom. The themes of this exhibition derive from an appreciation of the...Read more