ANDRÉ KERTÉSZ
The Fork, Paris / Die Gabel, Paris, 1928
© Estate of André Kertész 2018 / Courtesy Archive Consulting and Management Services LLC / Courtesy Kicken Berlin
Biography
André Kertész (Hungarian, 1894–1985) began working as an accountant at the Budapest Stock Exchange in 1912, photographing in his free time. Only after moving to Paris in 1925 did he take up photography professionally. He met Piet Mondrian, Paul Outerbridge, Man Ray, Brassaï, and Robert Capa, saw his work published in European magazines, and had his first solo show in 1927. In 1929 he participated in the Film und Foto exhibition in Stuttgart. He emigrated to the US in 1936 and worked for magazines such as Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar; after 1949 he photographed exclusively for Condé Nast Publications (until 1961). In 1946, Kertész had a solo exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago. He received an award for his work at the Venice Biennale in 1963, and in 1964, soon after John Szarkowski became the photography director at the Museum of Modern Art, he featured Kertész in a solo show. With his work critically acclaimed, Kertész gained recognition in the photographic world. His photographs were featured in numerous exhibitions throughout the world in his later life.
