The exhibition which presents a rich selection from the collection of Musée Mémorial André Kertész de Szigetbecsewas carried out in collaboration with the Robert Capa Center for Contemporary Photography in Budapest and theHungarian Academy of Rome.
“In his work, the Hungarian André Kertész created a universe of his own, in which he laid the foundations for the approach to modern photographic language. Through his photographs, he teaches us until the end of time the necessity and elemental joy of creating images as well as the fundamental principles of the medium itself. “Photography is my only language,” Kertész said, and in fact he had a mastery of it like no one before him.
In his lyrical images, subjectivity and modernism go hand in hand. His photographs are deeply humanist and personal, but at the same time carry universal messages, and speak to everyone. They include the experience of “seeing”, the joy of photography, the magic of discovery, but also the little miracles of real life. His photographs are autonomous works of art, natural, refined, but also powerful and perfect in their simplicity. In his images, the particular unity of form and meaning reveals how aesthetics cannot exist without ethics.
From childhood, Kertész consciously prepared himself to become a photographer and experience the joy of creating images. Before he could even pick up a camera, he had already taken interior photos. Thus, at the time of his first photographs, he already had the skills necessary to create compositions. He was a born photographer: he knew what he wanted and was aware that he had the right approach in his hands. He had used his camera for many decades as a visual diary, capturing everything that piqued his curiosity: his own life, himself, his partner, his friends, his personal spaces and the world around him. The events of his life and his emotions were organically transformed into images, captured with the precision of an attentive and sensitive observer. Kertész ensured that his work was linked to two continents (Europe and America) and three countries (Hungary, France and the United States of America). Although the international success he deserved came too late, he nevertheless became one of the most famous photographers in the world, and not only in the professional field; some of his emblematic photographs have indeed become emblematic works of contemporary culture.
The photographs exhibited in the exhibition Grand Masters of Photography – André Kertész – are the result of a selection made by the artist himself at the end of his life, as a gift to the city which had offered him experiences unique in his childhood and who dedicated the André Kertész Memorial Museum to him. This retrospective, curated by the artist himself, includes not only the images related to Szigetbecse, but also the most famous photographs from Kertész’s complete oeuvre, offering those interested a unique insight into the work of the world-renowned artist. » (Gabriella Csizek, curator)
The exhibition will remain open to the public until November 22, 2024.
Hungarian Academy in Rome
Palazzo Falconieri – Via Giulia, 1
00186 Rome RM, Italie
https://culture.hu/it/roma
