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André Kertész: On Reading

June 09 — August 5, 2006

Left: André Kertész, On Reading, New York, July 30, 1969, gelatin silver print, © Estate of André Kertész 2006
Right: On Reading, New York, April 19, 1938, gelatin silver print, © Estate of André Kertész 2006
Courtesy Stephen Daiter Gallery

In June of 2006, the Museum of Contemporary Photography, Columbia College Chicago will open André Kertész: On Reading, a hallmark collection of street photography that celebrates the absorptive power of reading as a universal pleasure, and In Sight, an exhibition of important and rarely seen photographs gifted to MoCP over the past five years. Both exhibitions serve to illustrate the breadth and quality of the museum’s 7,000 strong collection of photographs and related media while inhabiting playful approaches to the interpretation, or “reading,” of images.

André Kertész, born in Budapest, Hungary (1894 - 1984), was and is widely acknowledged as a mentor and main influence by photographers and artists in other media of his generation. Henri Cartier-Bresson once stated on behalf of himself, Robert Capa, and Brassaï, “Whatever we have done, Kertész did first.” The body of photographs, recently donated to the museum by Mr. Richard Hanson, was made between the early 1920s and the late 1960s in Hungary, France, and the United States, recording Kertész’s public observations of the private act of reading. Approximately half were published in the book On Reading (Grossman, New York) in 1971; MoCP will assist the estate with an expanded re-publication in the coming year.

The exhibitions, presentations, and related programs of MoCP are sponsored in part by The Lloyd A. Fry Foundation; the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency; The Henrietta Lange Burk Fund; The Mayer and Morris Kaplan Family Foundation; The National Endowment for the Arts; The Palmer Foundation; the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs/After School Matters; American Airlines, the official airline of MoCP; J&L Catering, the official caterers of MoCP, and our members.