Deconstructing Andre Kertesz

Andre  Kertesz, Chez Mondrian, 1926

Piet Mondrian, Composition with Red, Yellow and Blue, 1930

Our initial thoughts when we first studied the photograph were loneliness this is because there is a mass emptiness within the image. This feeling is re enforced by the first part of research we did. Kertesz moved to Paris in 1925, a year before the photograph was taken. We feel the photograph reflects his loneliness because he left behind his various family members including his ‘unofficial’ fiancée, two brothers, and an uncle.

Kertesz’s photograph was influenced by Piet Mondrian, a  Dutch painter who discovered Cubism. The photograph was actually taken in Mondrian’s artist studio which features an artificial flower. Mondrian wanted to express the impression of pure reality. The artificial flower which is at the edge of the table suggests that it was moved to be in the frame of the image. We know that Mondrian would always have an artificial flower in his studio as an expression of nature, so adding the flower to Kertesz’s image is almost a nod to the original studio.

The composition of the image is divided in half, the left being the foreground and the right the background.

The left side reflects cubism, the influential movement that started in that very studio by the straight lines in the furniture and doorway. However the curves of the staircase in the background soften the profusion of right angles and straight lines, representing breaking away from a particular era which was the artistic movement in the 1920’s and keeping individuality.

The image in itself is very contrast with very subtle midtones. The only section that we notice to have any greyscale to it is the flower. The greyscale in this gives the flower more detail and more depth, purposely done along with the lighting of it to draw the eye of the viewer.

At the time the image was made Paris was being taken over by the art deco movement all very grand and a lot of decoration which is the complete opposite to what is shown of the studio, being very plain and simple. Also in Paris at this time was the demand for personal freedom, again mirroring the photographer’s decision to move to Paris on his own.