About his Life
André Kertész was one of the most influential photographers of the world. He is known for his lyrical and formally rigorous pictures of everyday life. Born Kertész Andor on July 2, 1894 in Budapest, Austria-Hungary, he came from a Jewish middle-class background. Though his family expected him to pursue a career in business, he eventually moved to Paris and fell with its bohemian culture. Throughout the mid-1920s, he met Piet Mondrian, Sergei Eisenstein, and many of the Dadaists. Kertész eventually fled France and its growing Jewish persecutions, and emigrated to America where he went on to work for magazines such as Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, and House & Garden, as well as mounting solo shows at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1946 and at The Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1964. Kertész died on September 25, 1985 in New York, NY.
About his Art
Prizing emotional impact over technique, he famously remarked, “I just walk around, observing the subject from various angles until the picture elements arrange themselves into a composition that pleases my eye.”
Kertész remains best known for his contributions to photojournalism, employing distinctively dynamic compositions throughout his influential photo essays.
One of the most-inventive photographers of the 20th century, Kertész set the standard for the use of the handheld camera, created a highly autobiographical body of work, and developed a distinctive visual language.
Artworks of André Kertész are available at the Kálmán Makláry Fine Arts.
