André Kertész (1894–1985)

André Kertész (1894-1985) was one of the most inventive, influential, and prolific photographers in the medium's history.

His combination of Modernist vision and poetic wit defined a vocabulary that generations of photographers have continued to use. Kertész's iconic images of 1920s Paris, such as "Chez Mondrian" and "Satiric Dancer" and his later images from New York "Melancholic Tulip," "Washington Square" have seeped into contemporary culture, and yet Kertész maintained that the real roots of his work were in Hungary. This book, the first completely dedicated to Kertész's early Hungarian prints, offers a unique window on the origins of genius. Ninety images, selected from more than 1,000 contact prints in the artist's estate, are meticulously reproduced to actual size, revealing the explosive cultural context of early twentieth-century Hungary. A treasured addition to any photography library, André Kertész: The Early Years is a rare opportunity to witness the beginnings of a great artist. 90 duotone photographs… (more)

A powerful collection of the luminous last work by one of the true giants of twentieth-century photography.
After the death of his wife, André Kertész consoled himself by taking up a new camera, the Polaroid SX70. As with earlier equipment, he mastered the camera and produced a provocative body of work that both honored his wife and lifted him out of depression.

Here Kertész dips into his reserves one last time, tapping new people, ideas, and tools to generate a whole new body of work through which he transforms from a broken man into a youthful artist. Taken in his apartment just north of New York City’s Washington Square, many of these photographs were shot either from his window or in the windowsill. We see a fertile mind at work, combining personal objects into striking still lifes set against cityscape backgrounds, reflected and transformed in glass surfaces. Almost entirely unpublished work, these photographs are a testament to the genius of the photographer’s eye as manifested in the simple Polaroid. Duotone photographs throughout… (more)