Hungarian photographers in America
The exhibition presents a comprehensive selection of the work of Hungarian photographers who found a home in America during what historians call the short 20th century, from the beginning of World War I to 1989. More than 170 works by 32 artists who are considered to be among the most important Hungarian photographers to have settled in the United States, and even if they did not all become world-famous, they all played a significant role in their new homeland in their chosen photographic genre. Modernism, surrealism and abstraction played an important role in the work, aesthetic and technical approaches of all of them.
Schedule
The influence of Hungarian émigrés in 20th century photography is inescapable, one need only think of Robert Capa, André Kertész, György Kepes and Moholy-Nagy. They influenced directly or indirectly the work of many outstanding photographers, including Henri Cartier-Bresson, Richard Avedon, Aaron Siskind, Harry Callahan and Ray K. Metzker.
So far, only a few publications have dealt with Hungarian-American photographic relations and the influence of Hungarian-born photographers who emigrated to America. The presentation of the work of lesser-known photographers alongside that of famous artists who have become world-famous is a milestone in the history of the subject. Alex Nyerges, director of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, has been studying the oeuvre of Hungarian-American photographers for a decade, and the results of his research are presented for the first time in this exhibition in Budapest. The exhibition is divided into eight sections: from the beginnings in Hungary, through Berlin and Paris, to photographers working in New York, Chicago and Hollywood, it explores the influence of Hungarian-born artists on American photography.
Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest
The Museum of Fine Arts presents monuments of universal and Hungarian art from antiquity to the end of the 18th century. As part of the Heroes' Square monument complex, it is one of Budapest's World Heritage Sites.