Self-Portrait in the Hotel Beaux-Arts
1936 or 1938
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
gelatin silver print
Dimensions
sheet (trimmed to image): 24.5 x 16.6 cm (9 5/8 x 6 9/16 in.)
Classification
Photograph
Department
CPH
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of The André and Elizabeth Kertész Foundation
Accession Number
1998.90.3
Art Historical Context
In the intimate *Self-Portrait in the Beaux-Arts*,-born photographer André Kert captures a moment of quiet introspection around 1936 or 1938. Printed as a gelatin silver print—a versatile medium popular in the early 20th century for sharp detail and tonal depth—this modestly sized image (24.5 x 16.6 cm) Kertész's mastery of modernist photography. Known for his poetic compositions and innovative use of light and shadow, he transformed ordinary scenes into profound visual poetry during his time in Paris and early years in New York. Taken during a pivotal period of transition—likely amid Kertész...
About the Artist
André Kertész
André Kertész, born Andor Kertész on July 2, 1894, in Budapest, Hungary, to a middle-class Jewish family, initially pursued a conventional path as a clerk at the Budapest Stock Exchange after graduating from the Academy of Commerce in 1912. Self-taught in photography after purchasing his first camera that year, he captured his early poetic visions of Hungarian landscapes and peasant life, includin...