Jacques Henri Lartigue, the French photographer is the subject of a joint exhibition with André Kertesz at Versailles.

A focus on the early 1960s

The Espace Richaud exhibition in Versailles simultaneously presents the careers of photographers Jacques Henri Lartigue (1894-1986) and André Kertészen (1894-1985), focusing on the early 1960s.
In the early 1960s, the Museum of Modern Art in New York devoted monographic exhibitions to two photographers: Jacques Henri Lartigue (1894-1986) and André Kertész (1894-1985).
Qualified for one as “the greatest amateur of the 20th century” and for the other as “inventor of photojournalism”, they each retain a singular aesthetic. However, both have this ability to step aside, staying away from the mainstream of photography.
The exhibition highlights these two personalities with parallel careers by presenting 160 photographs (20 vintage -140 modern prints) and numerous archival documents.

“father of Henri Cartier-Bresson”

Jacques Henri Lartigue never ceased to mix his life and his multiple artistic practices (photography, painting and writing) before being identified, during the 1963 exhibition at the MoMa, as the photographer of the innate, “father of Henri Cartier-Bresson” and the decisive moment. This belated recognition prompted him to transform himself into an archivist and memorialist of himself. He thus offered his photographs two temporalities: that of the moment of the shot and that of the subsequent reframing.
André Kertész (1894-1985)
Of Hungarian origin, André Kertész settled in France between the wars and became a reporter-photographer. Its success with the press and critics was immediate. In 1936, he emigrated to the United States where he responded to orders for the Condé Nast press group. Brought back to light in 1964 in the MoMA exhibition, he then considered photography again as a means of artistic expression.

This exhibition is co-produced with the Media Library of Heritage and Photography (MPP) and the Donation Lartigue. Curators: Marion Perceval, director of the Donation Lartigue, and Matthieu Rivallin, assistant to the head of the photography department of the MPP.

78 Boulevard de la Reine
78000 Versailles
https://www.versailles.fr/1060/culture/espace-richaud/exhibitions-temporaires/exposition-kertesz-lartigue-un-pas-de-cote.htm