Kertész, Moholy-Nagy, Capa… / Hungarian Photographers in America (1914–1989)
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At the Museum of Fine Arts, April 6, 2024 – August 25, 2024
The works of Hungarian-born photographers who emigrated to the United States will be presented for the first time in a comprehensive exhibition in Hungary. The exhibition, realized in collaboration with the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, presents the works of more than 30 photographers, including André Kertész, László Moholy-Nagy, Martin Munkácsi, and Robert Capa, and introduces viewers to the exceptionally rich American-Hungarian photographic heritage. The exhibition, which is part of the Bartók Spring Festival, also features works by world-famous and lesser-known artists.
The exhibition provides a comprehensive selection of the work of Hungarian photographers who found a home in America during the period known by historians as the “short 20th century,” from the beginning of World War I to 1989. More than 170 works by 32 artists who can be considered defining figures among Hungarian photographers who settled in the United States are featured. Even if not all of them became world-famous, they played a significant role in their chosen photographic genre in their new homeland. Modernism, surrealism, and abstraction played an important role in the work, aesthetic, and technical approach of all of them.
The influence of Hungarian emigrants is undeniable in 20th-century photography, just think of Robert Capa, André Kertész, György Kepes, and Moholy-Nagy. They influenced the work of many outstanding photographers directly or indirectly, including Henri Cartier-Bresson, Richard Avedon, Aaron Siskind, Harry Callahan, and Ray K. Metzker.
To date, only a few publications have dealt with American-Hungarian photographic connections and the influence of Hungarian-born photographers who emigrated to America. The presentation of works by lesser-known photographers alongside those of world-famous artists is a milestone in the history of the subject. Alex Nyerges, director of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, has been studying the life’s work of American-Hungarian photographers for a decade, and the results of his research will be presented for the first time at this exhibition in Budapest. The exhibition consists of eight sections: from the beginnings in Hungary, through Berlin and Paris, to photographers working in New York, Chicago, and Hollywood, it reveals to viewers the impact of Hungarian-born artists on American photography.
The curators of the exhibition are Alex Nyerges, director of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, and Péter Baki, director of the Hungarian Museum of Photography.