André Kertész

carte-postale, on a vellum mount, signed and annotated 'Paris' in pencil on the mount, framed, a National Gallery of Art, Washington, D. C., exhibition label on the reverse, 1925

Estate of the photographer

Jane Corkin Gallery, Toronto

Christie's New York, An Important Collection of André Kertész Vintage Photographs, Paris and Hungary, 1919-1927, 17 April 1997, Sale 8624, Lot 188

Washington, D. C., National Gallery of Art, André Kertész, February - May 2005, and traveling to Los Angeles County Museum of Art, June - September 2005

Paris, Jeu de Paume, André Kertész, September 2010 - February 2011, and traveling to Winterthur, Fotomuseum; Berlin, Martin-Gropius-Bau; and Budapest, Magyar Nemzeti Muzeum through December 2011

This print:

A Stranger to Paris: Photographs by André Kertész, 1894-1985 (Jane Corkin Gallery, Toronto, 1992), p. 85

Sarah Greenough, Robert Gurbo, and Sarah Kennel, André Kertész (Washington, D. C.: National Gallery of Art, 2005), pl. 34 

Michel Frizot and Annie-Laure Wanaverbecq, André Kertész (Paris: Jeu de Paume, 2010), p. 79

Other prints of this image:

André Kertész, Photographer (The Museum of Modern Art, 1964), p. 27

Nicolas Ducrot, ed., André Kertész: Sixty Years of Photography, 1912-1972 (New York, 1972), p. 7

André Kertész (Centre National d'Art et de Culture Georges-Pompidou, 1977), unpaginated

André Kertész: Diary of Light, 1912-1985 (Aperture and The International Center of Photography, 1986), pl. 38

Pierre Borhan, André Kertész, His Life and Work (Boston, 1994), p. 99

This fine early print, with its astonishing range of gray tones on carte-postale with a semi-matte surface, is in generally excellent condition. It is mounted to a 14 5/8-by-10 7/8-inch vellum mount. When examined in raking light, silvering is visible in the dark areas, as well as a raised area in the upper left quadrant, where a piece of dust may have been trapped during mounting.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

The early Kertész photograph offered here, on carte-postale photographic paper mounted to tan vellum stock, has the classic presentation for a print from the photographer’s years in Paris. It was one of a group of 21 photographs from the 1920s, each with the same presentation, that was discovered in a portfolio among the photographer’s effects three years after his death.  Also in the portfolio was the announcement for Kertész’s first exhibition in Paris, in 1927, at Au Sacre du Printemps gallery, as well as an envelope printed with Kertész’s Boulevard du Montparnasse studio address.  With its exhibition-quality prints and related material, the portfolio was a time-capsule from the photographer's seminal Paris years. 

Using the checklist for the Au Sacre du Printemps exhibition as a guide, Toronto photographs dealer Jane Corkin was able to loosely recreate this landmark show by adding 16 more photographs to the newly discovered group. Corkin had known Kertész personally, and she became a representative for his estate after his death.  The entire group, including this print of Behind Notre Dame, was ultimately sold in an historic auction in New York in 1997.