Paris Celebrates Kertész

„The photographer André Kertész straddled three identities — Hungarian national (he was born in Budapest in 1894), enthusiastic Paris émigré (he posthumously donated his negatives to the Ministère de la Culture), and adopted American (he was a Manhattan resident for 49 years). The exhibition of his work at the Jeu de Paume (1, Place de la Concorde; 33-1-47-03-12-50; jeudepaume.org), which runs through Feb. 6, embraces all three eras, calling itself the first »proper retrospective« of his work in Europe.

The motifs that characterize his work and recur throughout — reflections, doubling, nightscapes, shadows — often allude to this fractured identity. Yet Kertész’s Paris years most closely hew to his sense of self as an artist. Kertész moved to Paris in 1925, where he frequented the Hungarian expat artist community and contributed photographs to a number of magazines. He published three successive monographs in the early 1930s, including a photographic ode to his beloved city, »Paris Vu par André Kertész«.

»His specific way of seeing the world allowed Kertész to notice strangeness in the everyday that would register as unremarkable to a typical Parisian«, said Michel Frizot, the show’s curator. »His representation of Paris stands in strong contrast to the prototypical vision«. Given that 25 years have passed since his death, we’re now able to  “recalibrate a strong approach to Kertész’s work«, as Mr. Frizot put it. Kertész was awarded the Légion d’Honneur in France in 1983, but this full photographic showcase — displayed  in the center of the city he adored — is undoubtedly a rival moment in his legacy.”