Distortion Portrait, Paris, 1927

Details

ANDRÉ KERTÉSZ (1894-1985)
Distortion Portrait, Paris, 1927
gelatin silver print
credit [Paris 2] and reproduction limitation [Paris 4] stamps, annotated 'Frauenporträt im Zerrspiegel' [Portrait of a woman in a distorting mirror] in unknown hand in German in pencil on verso
8¾ x 4 7/8in. (22 x 12.2cm.)

Provenance

As lot 1.

Literature

This image is reproduced with cropping variations in the following publications: 'Das Lichtbild,' Die Wochenschau, No.29, 19 July 1931, p.5, variant (fig.1); Ducrot (ed.), André Kertész: Sixty Years of Photography, 1912-1972, Grossman, 1972, p.71; Ducrot (ed.), Distortions: André Kertész, Thames & Hudson, 1977, n.p., variant; Kertész, Portraits, Mayflower Books, 1979, p.51, titled 'Portrait in a globe'; Phillips, Photographic Work of Kertész in France, CUNY, 1985, no.1927.100, titled 'Grotesque portrait study'; Corkin (ed.), André Kertész: A Lifetime of Photography, Thames & Hudson, 1982, p.163, titled 'Portrait in a globe, Paris'; André Kertész, Aperture Masters of Photography, Aperture, 1993, p.83; Borhan (ed.), André Kertész: His Life and Work, Little, Brown & Co., 1994, p.198.

Special Notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 15% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

The present lot is the only known vintage print of this image.

Kertész made two portraits of this woman, the wife of a Hungarian commercial artist, in a garden globe. This marked the first of many instances of using a distorting element in his Paris photographs. For other examples of his experimentation, see lots 15, 22 and 23.

More from Photographs

View All