61 - André KERTÉSZ (1894–1985)

André KERTÉSZ (1894–1985) Pigeon, New York, March 2, 1960 A pigeon in flight in front of the crumbling facade of a building bearing the traces of a demolished staircase. Silver print 23.7 x 18 cm Inscription on the reverse: Stamp of the Photographic Department of the National Museum of Modern Art, Centre Georges Pompidou; title and reference number of the print held by the museum, AM 1978-179, handwritten Provenance: former collection of Jean-Marie Drot Print produced by the Photographic Department of the National Museum of Modern Art and used for the exhibition “Omaggio a André Kertész” at the Villa Medici in Rome in 1985, the year Jean-Marie Drot became director of the French Academy in Rome. Born in Budapest in 1894, André Kertész began photographing rural Hungarian life in 1912, and later his comrades-in-arms during World War I. After settling in Paris in 1925, he mingled with the Montparnasse avant-garde, began exhibiting as early as 1927, and established himself as one of the pioneers of modern photography and photojournalism, adopting the Leica in 1928. After emigrating to New York in 1936, he worked for many years in magazine journalism before being honored by the Museum of Modern Art in 1964. His poetic vision—attuned to shadows, reflections, and mundane scenes—had a profound influence on Brassaï, Henri Cartier-Bresson, and generations of photographers. He died in New York in 1985, after donating his negatives to the French government.