Where to See Andre Kertesz

André Kertész's work can be viewed in several locations. In the United States, you can find his photographs at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. Other US institutions holding his work include the George Eastman House in Rochester, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh. Kertész is also represented in European collections. Musée d'Orsay in Paris holds some examples. You can also find his images at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa. The National Museum of Photography, Film & Television and the Royal Photographic Society in the United Kingdom also hold a number of his works.

André Kertész (1894^[1]-1985^[1]) was a Hungarian-born photographer known for his pioneering approach to photographic composition. In 1925^[1], he moved to Paris, where he associated with progressive artists such as Fernand Léger and Tristan Tzara. His prints often capture simple objects in elegant arrangements, revealing a clarity of vision. One example is "Mondrian’s Pipe and Glasses" (1926), a gelatin silver print taken in Piet Mondrian’s studio. It depicts Mondrian's glasses and pipe in a bowl, evoking the purity associated with the Dutch artist's paintings. This work was included in Kertész’s first solo exhibition at the Au Sacre du Printemps Gallery. In 1933, Kertész created a series of distorted female nudes, commissioned by A.-P. Barancy, editor of *Le Sourire*, and published in *Arts et Métiers Graphiques*. These images used fun-house mirrors to create odd, fragmented bodies. Some critics view them as surrealist pinups, made to titillate viewers. Kertész also created male distortion images, but these are less well known. The female distortions were later presented as examples of Kertész's avant-garde style.

André Kertész (born in Budapest, 1894^[1]; died in New York, 1985^[1]) moved to Paris in 1925^[1] and became associated with progressive artists such as Fernand Léger and Tristan Tzara. His photographs offer insights into surrealism's historical and aesthetic context. His early work captured the cultural mood of interwar France. Rather than presenting idealised images, Kertész often focused on the weakened or damaged men who populated the urban environment, revealing a contrast between fantasies of postwar manhood and the realities of the time. He used visual juxtaposition to question the narrative of reconstruction tied to male labour, capturing the distance between the public image and the lived experiences of men after the First World War. His photographs from this period reflect a surrealist approach. They present city streets as disturbing outdoor museums, filled with objects that trigger surrealist experiences. Kertész also explored representations of the damaged male body, incorporating these experimental images into female forms, such as the "Distortions" series, commissioned by *Le Sourire* magazine in 1933. These works, using distorting mirrors, played with visual objectification and challenged conventional ideas about social norms.

André Kertész is known for his pioneering approach to photographic composition. His techniques varied, but he is best known for black and white photography using gelatin silver prints. In 1925^[1], Kertész moved to Paris, where he associated with avant-garde artists. His early work included images of everyday objects, such as "Mondrian’s Pipe and Glasses" (1926), taken in Piet Mondrian's studio. Later, in 1933, Kertész created a series of female distortions using mirrors. Unpublished glass negatives reveal his studio set-up, showing the distance between the model and the distorted reflection. By stepping back, Kertész exposed the fiction of the distorted bodies, contrasting with images where the mirror's role is hidden, making the deformations appear intrinsic to the body. These images were made as a commercial enterprise.

André Kertész (1894^[1]-1985^[1]) was associated with progressive artists in Paris after he emigrated from Hungary in 1925^[1]. These included Fernand Léger and Tristan Tzara. His work influenced later photographers, especially in the fields of photojournalism and surrealist photography. Henri Cartier-Bresson, who began as a Cubist painter, turned to photography in 1932 and became known for capturing the 'decisive moment'. His odd juxtapositions had a surrealist element. Kertész's documentary impulses and sharp visual juxtapositions also had an impact on Eugène Atget, who chronicled Paris and its street life. Like Atget, Kertész captured both the promise and the terror of commodity culture. Surrealist photographers such as Bill Brandt, Jerry Uelsmann, and Lucas Samaras were inspired by surrealist photographers like Man Ray, Dora Maar, and Claude Cahun. They created special-effect or fantasy photography, using superimposition and composite images to create dreamlike images.

In Paris, André Kertész associated with progressive artists such as Fernand Léger and Tristan Tzara. His photograph, *Mondrian’s Pipe and Glasses* (1926^[1]), taken in Piet Mondrian's studio, evokes the purity of vision found in the Dutch artist’s paintings. Kertész's work has been linked to Surrealism, particularly his distorted female nudes from 1933. These photographs were published alongside poetic text by A.-P. Barancy, in *Le Sourire*. Some of his works appeared in the 1985^[1] exhibition catalogue, *L'Amour Fou: Photography and Surrealism*. Henri Cartier-Bresson also moved from painting to photography. As a young man, Cartier-Bresson studied painting with André L’Hote, who aimed to combine Cubism with classical French painting. L’Hote's teachings influenced Cartier-Bresson's photographic composition, giving him the ability to recognise arrangements of forms, lines, shadows, and highlights. Cartier-Bresson briefly explored Surrealism, attempting to capture the unconscious.

André Kertész was a Hungarian-born photographer known for his pioneering contributions to photojournalism and his use of unconventional composition. While he produced a wide array of celebrated images throughout his career, one of his most recognisable and discussed works is often considered to be 'Fork', 1928^[1]. This photograph features a simple metal fork resting on a plate, its tines casting elongated shadows. The image transforms an everyday object into a study of form, light, and shadow. 'Fork' demonstrates Kertész's ability to find beauty in the mundane, a quality that is a characteristic of his photographic style. The image is part of a series of still lifes Kertész created during his time in Paris, and it has been widely exhibited and reproduced, solidifying its place as a signature piece within his body of work.

André Kertész, a Hungarian-born photographer who moved to Paris in 1925^[1], is associated with several artistic movements. He became acquainted with progressive artists, including Fernand Léger and the Dada poet Tristan Tzara. His work from the late 1920s shares characteristics with Surrealism. Like the Surrealists Man Ray and Brassaï, Kertész employed visual juxtaposition and surprise in his photography. He captured images of weak or damaged men, contrasting them with advertisements promoting a healthy, robust image of French masculinity. This technique, also common in advertising at the time, allowed him to question the effects of the First World War on the male population. In 1933, Kertész created a series of distorted female nudes, which have often been linked to Surrealism. These photographs, commissioned by the magazine *Le Sourire*, presented a voyeuristic view of the female body through the use of distorting mirrors. While some critics view them as Surrealist pinups, others see them as part of Kertész's broader exploration of cultural conflict and social anxieties.