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Andre Kertesz: Postcards from Paris
The first comprehensive study of these rare, influential objects, documenting a formative moment in the noted photographer’s early career
This elegant book unites all of the known carte postale prints by the photographer André Kertész (1894–1985), including portraits, views of Paris, careful studio scenes, and exquisitely simple still lifes. Essays shed new light on the artist’s most acclaimed images; themes of materiality, exile, and communication; his illustrious and bohemian social circle; and the changing identity of art photography. Playful yet refined, the book’s design reflects the spirit of 1920s Paris while underscoring the modernity of the catalogue’s more than 250 illustrated works. Kertész made his rigorously composed prints on inexpensive but lush postcard stock, sharing them with friends and sending them back to family in Hungary. The works reveal the artist learning his craft as he encountered an international group of modernists—including Piet Mondrian, Fernand Léger, and Joseph Csáky—in the interwar metropolis. Prized by collectors as well as by Kertész himself, the cartes postales influenced his compositions and the intimate scale of his picture making for decades.
Distributed for the Art Institute of Chicago
Exhibition Art Institute of Chicago
(October 2, 2021–January 17, 2022)
High Museum of Art, Atlanta
(February 18–May 29, 2022)
This elegant book unites all of the known carte postale prints by the photographer André Kertész (1894–1985), including portraits, views of Paris, careful studio scenes, and exquisitely simple still lifes. Essays shed new light on the artist’s most acclaimed images; themes of materiality, exile, and communication; his illustrious and bohemian social circle; and the changing identity of art photography. Playful yet refined, the book’s design reflects the spirit of 1920s Paris while underscoring the modernity of the catalogue’s more than 250 illustrated works. Kertész made his rigorously composed prints on inexpensive but lush postcard stock, sharing them with friends and sending them back to family in Hungary. The works reveal the artist learning his craft as he encountered an international group of modernists—including Piet Mondrian, Fernand Léger, and Joseph Csáky—in the interwar metropolis. Prized by collectors as well as by Kertész himself, the cartes postales influenced his compositions and the intimate scale of his picture making for decades.
Distributed for the Art Institute of Chicago
Exhibition Art Institute of Chicago
(October 2, 2021–January 17, 2022)
High Museum of Art, Atlanta
(February 18–May 29, 2022)
240 pages, Hardcover
Published October 12, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 31, 2025
An insightful look into a formative era of one of my favorite photographers. It’s fascinating how he used the small, intimate form of carte postale paper to make manifest his work. A great balance of presentation and adaptability.
It’s almost as though his carte postale prints were precursors to the Polaroid & Instant cameras of today. Who knows. A visionary indeed.
It’s almost as though his carte postale prints were precursors to the Polaroid & Instant cameras of today. Who knows. A visionary indeed.
August 3, 2025
My English is bad. My French is bad. Photography is my only language.
-André Kertész
-André Kertész
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews