KERTÉSZ ANDRÉ (1894 1985) Satiric Dancer

Sale 2199 - Lot 266

Price Realized: $ 14,400

?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price

Estimate: $ 15,000 - $ 25,000

KERTÉSZ, ANDRÉ (1894-1985)
"Satiric Dancer." Oversize silver print, 19 3/4x15 3/4 inches (50.2x40 cm.), with Kertész's signature and date, in pencil, on verso. 1926; printed 1970s

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Additional Details

From a Private Collector; to the present owner in 1980.
André Kertész (2005), 47.
André Kertész: Of Paris and New York, 25.
André Kertész: A Lifetime of Perception, 243.
André Kertész: Photographe, 58.

André Kertész, whose thoughtful style is reflected in his poetic street photographs and unique portraits, is recognized as one of the great twentieth century photographers. Through quiet juxtapositions of oddly humorous, many times surprising arrangements of subject matter, along with unusual positioning of his camera, the composition of Kertész's images is uniquely his own.

By the late 1920s, Kertész's photographs of Parisian streets began to attract attention and were shown at art galleries. In 1927, the Chicago Tribune reviewed his exhibition at Au Sacre du Printemps, noting that he was "one of the few talented photographers who recognize that their medium possesses the necessary qualifications for being an independent art . . . what makes ordinary objects and scenes take on a fresh value in the photographs. . . is his habit of placing the accent in an unexpected place or of taking the picture from a new angle." During the following decades, he perfected his playful, yet sophisticated, approach to light and shadow in urban settings.

This iconic image of the Hungarian dancer, cabaret performer and aspiring actress Magda Förstner, showcases Kertész's ability to capture motion and spontaneous transformation. Taken in the Paris studio of sculptor István Beöthy, a fellow Hungarian émigré, the subject strikes a pose reflecting the same energetic thrust of the artwork behind her. Filling a large void for the viewer's eye, Magda's sharp elbow mimics the angular stumped arm of the statue, her slightly twisted torso softens the tightness of the male form and her shapely legs take on the same triangular positioning of the classical sculptural form.