Eyewitness: Hungarian Photography in the Twentieth Century. Brassaï, Capa, Kertész, Moholy-Nagy, Munkácsi

The names of these photographers are familiar and their iconic images even more so: American Soldier Landing on Omaha Beach, D-Day, Death of a Loyalist Militiaman. Yet the common Hungarian background of Brassaï (born Gyula Halász), Robert Capa (Endre Erno Friedmann), André Kertész (Kohn Andor Kertész Andor), László Moholy-Nagy, Martin Munkácsi (born Mermelstein Márton) has been lost to immigration and pseudonyms. Just as a photographer frames the subject through the viewfinder, this book frames Hungarian photography in a larger context, drawing new relationships between its five subjects, generating fresh insights into the impact of history on this particular art form. The three opening essays and the organization of the images into five chronological chapters capture key themes or tensions in the development of Hungarian photography. Poet and translator Szirtes writes: “The first tension is between realism and dream, the second between the urban and rural imagination, and the third between the international and provincial elements in Hungarian memory and ambition.” Given Hungary’s place in the world today, it is easy to forget that Austria-Hungary was once “the second-largest country in Europe, with the continent’s third-highest population” and how the resulting unrest affected its population and its artists. The breakup of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the emigration of artists, the unique qualities of the Hungarian language, and the impact of war all play out in the photographs. “Historical vulnerability and linguistic isolation make for a threatened, unstable consciousness,” writes Szirtes. Art and history gaze at each other across the pages of this enlightening catalogue. (Sept.)