Random Excellence: André Kertész

Copyright the Estate of Andre Kertesz, courtesy James Hyman Photography, London

André Kertész, Self-Portrait, 1926

I like, admire, and enjoy Mozart, but love Haydn. The Papa Haydn of photographers was André Kertész, who was born in Hungary but lived in Paris between the World Wars and, after fleeing the Nazis, in America, in New York. His work was somewhat limited in emotional range—I believe one writer likened it to the range a composer for piano who avoids either end of the keyboard; he doesn't go grim and he never gets sappy—but warmth and humanity radiates through his pictures. His biography is touching: his midlife years were difficult, because he was ignored in America after his emigration here, after having found success easily in Europe. But his pictures never showed his bitterness. Kertész had a wonderful heart. As with Mozart and Haydn, I like, admire, and respect Cartier-Bresson, but love Kertész. His work is gentle, humane and humanistic, and one always got the sense from it that he had a naturally beautiful soul.

Compare and contrast these two treatments of the same motif, two people peering through a barricade:

Kertész

Cartier-Bresson

There's the difference between the two photographers in a nutshell; Kertesz's photograph is more about the relationship between the two people; Cartier-Bresson's is more enigmatic, with an edge of the surreal, and the relationship between the two figures is only visual, separated by that hard dark spearing line of the pole, which the second man's face oddly appears to be pressed against.

Kertész's reputation was at its peak in the 1980s, in the years surrounding his 1985 death. He was "rediscovered" and accorded great honor at the end of his life. The "holy grail" book of his work dates from those years—1986's André Kertész: Diary of Light 1912–1985. Crafted in Japan, it's printed by tripletone offset on a special cotton rag paper called sala. There were only three thousand copies printed. The Editions Hazan book by Michel Frizot is much more recent (2010) and should be easier to find. In any event, any decent library will have Kertész titles in its photography section, and it would be worth a visit to see what yours has.

His great love for his wife Elizabeth was especially touching; they were very close all their lives, and he adored her. In old age, housebound, grieving for her, he made a series of Polaroid photos of a small abstract glass bust on his windowsill, because the curve of its shoulder reminded him of Elizabeth.

The self-portrait at the top is from an upcoming show at the James Hyman Gallery in London, UK, which starts on May 13th and runs until the same day in June. (One of the treats of the recent Thomas Walther Collection show I got to see at MoMA was a row of original Kertész prints.)

Oh, and speaking of Cartier-Bresson, Kertész took the warmest picture of the famously camera-shy Henri, with his wife Martine Franck.

Mike

P.S. I'll be working on the Olympus 17mm ƒ/1.8 crowdsourced review for the rest of today. I'll try to get it posted tonight, but there's a lot. Could be Monday.

UPDATE: There's also a Kertész show coming on May 2 at the Stephen Bulger Gallery in Toronto, Ontario. Thanks to Larry Manuel for this. —Ed.

Original contents copyright 2015 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

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(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

Nigel Voak: "André Kertész: Sixty Years of Photography is a book a reach for when I’m a bit down in the dumps. It always cheers me up. There is a warmth and joy of living in this photographers work that make him my favorite photographer. The photo you chose of the couple peering through a hole is a perfect example of why his work connects to me so strongly."

expiring_frog: "You echo my thoughts! Your first paragraph is exactly how I have always felt about Kertész. My favourite photographer."

Jan Kwarnmark: "When asked about Kertész, Henri Cartier-Bresson showed his reverence by saying: 'We all owe something to Kertész.' and even 'Whatever we have done, Kertész did first.' I found it in an article by Eric Kim, but it is easy to find in other articles about Kertész. And, referring to Mozart, Mozart was one of many who said 'Papa Haydn,' as a term of affection."

Bill Pierce: "I lived on East Fourth St. in NYC and used to wander around the Lower East Side taking pictures. There was an older gentleman who I would occasionally see shooting on the same streets. I would smile and wave, and he would smile and wave back. It took me a little while to realize that the older gentleman was Andre Kertész, who lived on Fourth St. on the north side of Washington Square Park."

John Camp: "I completely agree with you. Three other nice books on Kertész are Kertész on Kertész from Abbeville Press [that's another particular favorite of mine as well —MJ]; the big retrospective catalog published by the Jeu De Paume (the English-language version is distributed by the Yale University Press) called Kertész [that's the Michel Frizot title I linked —MJ], and the smaller Stranger to Paris published by the Jane Corkin Gallery of Toronto.

"Stranger to Paris looks so much like Diary of Light that I thought I might own the latter, went to look, and it was Stranger to Paris instead. Both have 'Chez Modrian' on the cover.

"As a large format book of 359 pages, the Jeu de Paume retrospective is by far the most comprehensive Kertész book, to my knowledge, and includes a brief selection of his color Polaroids. I'm lucky enough to own signed prints of 'Chez Modrian' and 'Satiric Dancer' acquired through the Mayans Gallery in Santa Fe, back when photography was still affordable. The gallery owner, Ernesto Mayans, was a good friend of Kertész, and hosted him here in Santa Fe shortly his death."

Jim Hughes: "In the mid-1980s, shortly before André's death, a man named Stan Kulesa found himself face to face with Kertész at an exhibit of the great photographer's work at a Manhattan gallery. They seemed to be alone in the white-walled space, surrounded by André's prints. According to a comment he posted on the American Masters PBS online site many years later in 1999, Kulesa spoke first, and announced to Kertész that '[you are] my #1 favorite photographer of all time.'

He graciously thanked me, and asked if I was a photographer. "Oh no, I'm only an amateur," I responded. His response floored me when he said, "I'm an eternal amateur." ...He made me feel like a million dollars.

"From my perspective, I've always regarded André Kertész to be the most graceful photographer who ever lived, as I wrote in a piece for TOP in 2011. The article can be found in the right-hand sidebar under my name. Just scroll all the way down to 'Chez Mondrian and Other Small Pleasures.'

"In that piece, I quote the poet Paul Dermée, who wrote, on the occasion of André's first Paris exhibit in the 1920s: 'No rearranging, no posing, no gimmicks, nor fakery. Your technique is as honest, as incorruptible, as your vision. In our home for the blind, Kertész is 'Brother Seeing-Eye.'

"Roland Barthes evidently agreed. He called André's work 'a photography that thinks.'

"I call it poetry."

Rodger Kingston: "In February of 1973, on our wedding trip to NYC, Carolyn and I wandered into the Hallmark Gallery on 5th Avenue in what turned out to be the last hour of the last day of a large Andre Kertész show. As luck would have it, who should be there but the master himself.

"A young poet recently turned photographer, I recognized him immediately, and dashed across the street to a Doubleday Bookshop, where I bought a copy of his On Reading. I'm quite sure I gushed. He was very warm and gracious in a courtly, European manner.

"He signed the book for us, and sometime after we got home, I wrote to him that meeting him at his exhibition was one of the highlights of our wedding trip. Almost nine months later, I received the following letter in reply:

2 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10011
November 17, 1973

Dear Mr. Kingston:

This reply to your appreciative letter has been so long delayed that you may have thought the written word had by now completely succumbed to the visual image.

I am indeed touched by the fact that you feel the Hallmark Gallery exhibit will remain memorable over the years as a part of your wedding trip. You see, that way I know my photographs will have as many happy anniversaries as you and your wife Carolyn!

With every good wish for your success as poet and photographer, and my warmest regards to both of you—

Sincerely,
André Kertész

"A year or two later, Kertész delivered a lecture in Boston. When I approached him during the reception, his eyes lit up; he reached out his hand to me and exclaimed, 'Ah, the bridegroom!'

"It's been over 40 years, and Andre Kertesz was right: his photographs have had many happy anniversaries with Carolyn and me."

Dave Jenkins: "I think Kertesz was probably one of the two or three greatest photographers of the 20th century. He was a seminal photographer, meaning he began ways of photographing that other photographers picked up and expanded upon. John Durniak, who was successively editor-in-chief of Popular Photography, picture editor of Time, and picture editor of the New York Times, wrote an article for the first issue of Popular Photography's 35mm Photography magazine (which soon thereafter became a long-running quarterly). In that article, titled 'Some Heroes of 35,' he said that "...35mm photography had three fathers—Oscar Barnack, Erich Salomon, and Andre Kertész...look at this photographer's work. One can see the start of what Bill Brandt later did with nudes, one can see 'decisive moments' before there ever was that phrase, one can see the basis for a solid generation of honest photography. Young men, one named Brassai...saw his pictures and in them found a whole new world of art and communication.'"

Comments

[Matthew Miller]

These seem like great candidates for part 3 of Great Photographers on the Internet!

André, these are nice snapshots, but you really need to learn how to meter and the exposure triangle. Your images are all underexposed. Photography is all about controlling light. You should really consider bounce flash -- it'll help a lot. And you also need to be more careful about focus, because most of these are back or front-focused. (I can't tell which, but it's definitely one of those.) Also, in the fence picture, the crooked boards are really distracting. You should use the auto-correction feature in lightroom to straighten that out. Keep trying!

[Bill Wheeler]

Well-said. I feel as you do about Kertesz. How wonderful to see his photograph of Cartier-Bresson and Martine Franck! Thanks. Bill

[Glenn Brown]

Had the pleasure to meeting André in Toronto in the late 70's, delightful man, with a twinkel in his eye he asked my model girlfriend if he could photograph her.sadly she declined.

[magmatico]

There is now a very interesting exhibition of his work in Valladolid, Spain, but just till next march 15th

[Dave]

I too admire the photographs of Henri Cartier-Bresson but have come to realise that I prefer those of Kertesz because they don't seem to be trying as hard to be great pictures.

The two books which motivated me when I picked up a camera were Andre Kertesz: Sixty Years of Photography (which has the couple looking through a fnece on the cover) and The English by Ian Berry. I still refer to them both 35 plus years later.

[Robin P]

Thank you for reminding us of one of the greats, Kertesz has always been a favourite of mine - but THANK YOU for the link, what a charming snap. I always thought Cartier-Bresson didn't know how to smile!

[Jeff]

Kertesz also lent insights to Brassai on night photography, for which he wasn't always given proper credit. [Brassai later produced his famous book, Paris de Nuit, or Paris by Night.] Kertesz used a wide variety of cameras and formats…besides a great eye, not a bad technician either.

[Bill Mitchell]

I have looked for it in books and magazines, but never found the story of MRS Kertesz. Apparently while he was artistically successful, she was the one who earned the big bucks with a cosmetics empire. (See "thanks to the Andre and Elizabeth Kertesz Foundation" on many of the major PBS presentations, including American Masters). A New York apartment overlooking a major square, and a Summer house in Connecticut -- you don't pay for with 8x10s.

[Andrew Lamb]

"His biography is touching: his midlife years were difficult,"

In the Getty In Focus book on him there is an interesting discussion on his life. They refer frequently to his bitterness at being ignored by publishers and the art world but also point out that his wife ran a very successful perfume business and they led very comfortable lives:

"His family photographs, the snapshots from 1940 through to the 1970s, depicts a very bourgeois life- the country house in Connecticut, the grand piano in the apartment. Everything suggests they lived life to the fullest , and it was all based on Elizabeth's money."

Love his work.

[Maggie Osterberg]

André Kertész is probably my favorite photographer, mostly because he was able to fuse the geometry of the image with a deep and warm humanity.

A couple of years ago I picked up André Kertész: The Early Years [a nearly miniature book, 5.3 in. / 13.5 cm square, with tiny little actual-size images —Ed.]
and you can see, right from the beginning, his deep connection with the people he photographed and the love he had for his home.

I think the big difference between HCB's and Kertész's pictures is that HCB's images jump off the page or wall at you, where Kertész's draw you in and seduce you.

[Maggie Osterberg]

Oh, and I can't resist sharing this fortuitous homage to the maestro:

Satiric Dancer, February 26, 2012

[Jeff]

I also think the characterization of Kertesz as limited in 'emotional range' does some disservice to his broader range of subject matter and his influence on other photographers (besides Brassai, as noted). His work ranges from portraits (and self-portraits) to street scenes, with and without people (and 'decisive moments'), surrealistic type images (e.g., underwater…'headless'...swimmer) and distortions, 'modernistic' works such as Chez Mondrian and his Mondrian's Pipe and Glasses, lesser known but still wonderful small landscapes, and more.

The 'feel' of these images changes, too, given his wide ranging print sizes and presentation….from tiny contact prints (under 2x3 inches) to carte postales and Polaroids, to more traditionally sized silver prints….and of course books.

[Bill Mitchell]

Maggie, not only did your Satiric Dancer make me LOL until I have tears in my eyes, but your last paragraph exactly hits the mark.

[Rob W]

I always thought that kertesz photograph was surreal - there is a leg missing...

[Dan Gorman]

More of these posts, please! If you ask me, this sort of writing is TOP at its best.

Thanks, Mike!

[phil]

There was a large André Kertész show at the National Gallery in Washington a few years back, marred only by the fad for vintage prints from the photographer’s first editions, whatever they may be. First starting out in Hungary, Kertész had very limited resources and used to send contact prints as postcards to friends, so many of the pictures exhibited were these contact prints. There were even contacts of 35mm negatives, small specks floating in the sea of the 16x20 mats. Academically interesting to see the very first output of a photographer whose work we know so well, but not an enjoyable way to view those pictures, especially since those early pictures are the ones that are perhaps not so familiar.

[Herman]

A nice video about André Kertész can be seen at:
https://www.youtube.com watch?v=zCr1r4boxdU

[Eolake]

Yes! Kertész is my favorite photographer.

I especially like his wonderfully precise and complex compositions from Paris in his early days. Not "photography" so much as pure pictorial art.

[Eolake]

That is indeed a wonderful picture of C-BH and his wife.
(And C-BH was just insanely camera shy.)

I like that you and others use the word "warm" so much here. I have always felt that "warmth" is my guiding light in this world, as an artist, as a spiritual seeker, and as a human.

[Richard G]

Your authoritative championing of Kertesz, your Haydn analogy, and your writing in this piece, are just what makes TOP head and shoulders above any other blog I read.

[Thanks Richard. --Mike]

[FK]

Another way Andre Kertész differed from Cartier-Bresson was that Kertész did not shy away from cropping and re-examining his pictures. HCB never allowed this. An example you can see in the Editions Hazan book is the picture "Elizabeth and I" you show above. He made two versions of the original in 1933 and a later crop in the early 1960s shifting focus from man and woman to woman.

[Ben Rosengart]

Maggie, your homage makes me smile.

I had no idea that so many people felt exactly the way I did about the relative merits of HCB's work and Kertész's. I know that comparison is absurd, but it's hard to avoid with those two.

HCB has such verve and darting wit. Kertész is sappier, with a more diffident lens. I love them both, but Kertész feels like family to me.

[latent_image]

Jane Corkin (Jane Corkin Gallery, Toronto) deserves a significant portion of the credit for the "rediscovery" of Kertész in North America.

[cfw]

I was fortunate to see an exhibit of over 100 of his photos in the Spring of 2005 at the National Gallery while in Washington D.C. that year. I've loved his work ever since.

[Keith Harrington]

That photograph of HCB by Kertesz is absolutely amazing.

[Jeff]

To expand on my earlier comment, one would get a different sense of Kertesz's people interactions, or lack thereof, using other well known photos such as 'Poughkeepsie' or 'Dubonnet' (On the Boulevards)….plus many others. He experimented with a range of work, and emotion, not evident in this post….even though he might be regarded by many in the more limited sense.

[Maggie Osterberg]

"Maggie, not only did your Satiric Dancer make me LOL until I have tears in my eyes, but your last paragraph exactly hits the mark."

"Maggie, your homage makes me smile."

Thanks, Bill & Ben!! It made me smile when I made it and I'm glad it does it for others!

[Bob Smith]

Andre Kertesz "On Reading", a magnificent gem.

[Ben Rosengart]

I found a copy of _On Reading_ endorsed in Kertész's hand "To Regina and Michael with friendship Feb 21-1974 A. Kertész", for sale on the street in Manhattan. Anyone know who they might be?

[Jim Hughes]

Ben wrote: "I found a copy of _On Reading_ endorsed in Kertész's hand 'To Regina and Michael with friendship Feb 21-1974 A. Kertész', for sale on the street in Manhattan. Anyone know who they might be?"

If I'm not mistaken, that would be Regina Fiorito and Michael Edelson. Mike worked with me for several years at Camera 35, and wrote for other of my magazines as well, but in 1974 I believe he was assisting Cornell Capa at ICP. I think Regina and Mike were still a couple at the time, but separated shortly thereafter. Ultimately Mike went on to become a professor of photography and film at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. I believe he is now retired, and no-doubt still photographing. -- Jim Hughes

[Ben Rosengart]

Thanks, Jim. I have, not without regret, reached out to Mike to see if he wants his book back.

[David A. Goldfarb]

I can't help but imagine that the couple in the Kertesz photo are looking at Duchamp's "Étant donnés," though the photo is surely earlier than Duchamp's last work.

http://www.philamuseum.org/collections/permanent/65633.html#

[Nigel Amies]

In case anyone's heading that way there's a nice little museum dedicated to Andre Kertesz near the Danube River just south of Budapest in the village of Szigetbecse - don't ask how that's pronounced - which is where he spent his summer holidays in his youth and first started to make photographs. My partner and I cycled that way enroute to the Black Sea a couple of years back. I took a photo of her with one of my last rolls of Portra 120 film on a Holga camera as she made a digital pix of the placard in his memory on the wall of the house near the entrance to the village where he lived. I was going to post a copy of that picture but can't do it here for whatever reasons. However, it's featured at the begining of my 2014 Blurb book 'East of here' which can be viwed online.