Rarely Seen Photos 3 – André Kertész and Szigetbecse

Curated by: Károly KINCSES, Zsófia SPÉDER

Open to the public:
May 29 – October 31, 2015
every day 11am - 7pm

“Here I am, at the dearest site of my childhood memories and, with a heavy heart, I remember those beautiful memories that bind me here. André Kertész, Sziget Becse, March 13, 1984.”

André Kertész, one of the most important artists in world and Hungarian photography, died thirty years ago. In 1984, he sent 120 original photographs to Szigetbecse, and he requested that in the event of his death some of his personal belongings and pieces of furniture would also go to the André Kertész Memorial Museum established in a refurbished old cottage, where the so-called facsimile reproductions of the original photos are on view now.
The Mai Manó House – Hungarian House of Photography’s exhibition André Kertész and Szigetbecse now honors the great photographer and the tradition of preserving his memory: the remaining legacy of 119 Kertész photographs will be on display together with movies, interviews, documents, books and small printed items, showcasing a rarely seen selection of the artist’s oeuvre and life to the public.

The last time Kertész visited Hungary was in 1984. During the 12 days of his visit, he met with prime members of the photography profession, who now, 30 years later, remember the iconic figure of world photo-history in a film portrait through interviews shot in the Daylight Studio of the Mai Manó House.
Another unique feature of the exhibition is how the captions containing personal memories of the photographer actually make visitors feel as if they were guided through the original enlargements by André Kertész himself.

Rarely Seen Photography – an exhibition series by the Mai Manó House
In the summer of 2010, the Hungarian House of Photography organized the first part of the exhibition series Rarely Seen Photographs, selecting from the treasures of the Hungarian Museum of Photography in Kecskemét. By launching the exhibition series, we intended to showcase images from Hungarian photography collections that were rarely presented to the public.
Upon the success of the 2010 exhibition, we were confident that we should pursue the series. In 2012, we presented images from the public collections of country-side museums. In 2015, the Mai Manó House exhibits the collection of photographs André Kertész donated to Szigetbecse.
Hungary has a number of valuable photographic collections which preserve our outstanding artistic heritage. We can be proud of Hungarian photography – the artistic genre whose history cannot be fully comprehended or described without a knowledge of the work Hungarian photographers, of those who left and who stayed in the country. We would like to show the younger generations of photographers the oeuvre of their predecessors, so that, by building on this legacy, they can create their own.

Dear Visitors, Our exhibition halls are climate-controlled in order to protect the exhibited art work. Please note that there might be a much larger temperature differential from outside to inside.