Self-Portrait with Jenó Kertész
1923
Medium
gelatin silver print
Dimensions
image: 3.7 x 5.1 cm (1 7/16 x 2 in.) sheet: 3.9 x 5.2 cm (1 9/16 x 2 1/16 in.)
Classification
Photograph
Department
CPH
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of The André and Elizabeth Kertész Foundation
Accession Number
1999.122.1
Art Historical Context
In 1923, Hungarian photographer André Kertész created this intimate *Self-Portrait with Jenó Kertész*, a poignant snapshot from his early career in Budapest, just before his pivotal move to Paris in 5. Featuring himself alongside his brother Jenó the image reveals the personal side of an artist who would become a modernist master, celebrated for transforming everyday moments into poetic compositions. This small-scale work captures the warmth of familial bonds amid the interwar era's uncertainties, reflecting Kertész's emerging sensitivity to light, shadow, and human connection. Printed as a g...
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...