{
"data": {
"id": 162085,
"accession_number": "2001.39",
"share_license_status": "Copyrighted",
"tombstone": "Distortion #150, c. 1933. Andr\u00e9 Kert\u00e9sz (American, 1894\u20131985). Gelatin silver print; image: 29.5 x 22.9 cm (11 5/8 x 9 in.); matted: 55.9 x 45.7 cm (22 x 18 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Dudley P. Allen Fund, 2001.39. \u00a9 Estate of A. Kertesz",
"current_location": null,
"title": "Distortion #150",
"creation_date": "c. 1933",
"creation_date_earliest": 1928,
"creation_date_latest": 1938,
"artists_tags": [
"Jewish artists",
"male"
],
"culture": [
"America"
],
"technique": "gelatin silver print",
"support_materials": [],
"department": "Photography",
"collection": "PH - American 1900-1950",
"type": "Photograph",
"measurements": "Image: 29.5 x 22.9 cm (11 5/8 x 9 in.); Matted: 55.9 x 45.7 cm (22 x 18 in.)",
"dimensions": {
"image": {
"height": 0.295,
"height_inch": 11,
"height_inch_fraction": 0.625,
"width": 0.229,
"width_inch": 9,
"width_inch_fraction": 0.0
},
"matted": {
"height": 0.559,
"height_inch": 22,
"height_inch_fraction": 0.0,
"width": 0.457,
"width_inch": 18,
"width_inch_fraction": 0.0
}
},
"state_of_the_work": null,
"edition_of_the_work": null,
"copyright": "\u00a9 Estate of A. Kertesz",
"inscriptions": [
{
"inscription": "Written in blue pencil on verso: \"TOP\"/ \"10-48/ 8 13/16 & 8 5/8\"/ in orange pencil; 95-3/ in black pen: MAK.0239.4 ",
"inscription_translation": null,
"inscription_remark": null,
"sortorder": null
}
],
"exhibitions": {
"current": [
{
"id": 177216,
"title": "Andr\u00e9 Kert\u00e9sz",
"description": "Andr\u00e9 Kert\u00e9sz. National Gallery of Art, Landover, MD (organizer) (February 6-May 15, 2005); Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA (June 12-September 5, 2005); International Center of Photography (September 16-November 27, 2005).",
"opening_date": "2005-02-06T00:00:00"
}
],
"legacy": [
{
"description": "National Gallery of Art (2/6/2005 - 9/5/2005), LACMA (6/12/2005 - 9/5/2005) and the International Center of Photography (9/16/2005 - 11/27/2005): \"Andr\u00e9 Kert\u00e9sz\", pl. 70.",
"opening_date": "2005-02-06T00:00:00"
},
{
"description": "Main gallery rotation (gallery 229): October 28, 2014 - April 20, 2015.",
"opening_date": "2014-10-28T00:00:00"
}
]
},
"provenance": [],
"find_spot": null,
"related_works": [],
"former_accession_numbers": [],
"did_you_know": null,
"early_education_description": null,
"artlens_description": null,
"description": "Andr\u00e9 Kert\u00e9sz's Distortions series of 1933 is a unique achievement by one of the most important and inventive photographers of the 20th century. The series featured almost 200 studies of nude female figures reflected in a parabolic mirror that came from an amusement park. The inspiration for the series was a commission by the humorous and risqu\u00e9 French magazine Le Sourire. Using the mirror to contract, twist, and taper the nude figures, Kert\u00e9sz produced fantastic, ephemeral results ranging from amusing to grotesque and frightening. In this image\u2014one of his best\u2014Kert\u00e9sz created a composition that is appealing yet tantalizingly undecipherable. The model's body, simultaneously foreshortened and elongated, concrete and abstract, sweeps around mysterious reflected shapes and textures present in the studio. The Distortions have obvious affinities with the radical changes occurring in the visualization of the human figure in painting and sculpture of the 1930s. In the field of photography, however, the series was without precedent. This rare vintage print is one of only eight (or fewer) large-scale exhibition prints produced from the series.",
"external_resources": {
"wikidata": [
"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q79985721"
],
"internet_archive": []
},
"citations": [
{
"citation": "Cleveland Museum of Art, \u201cNew Acquisitions Now on View at the CMA,\u201d July 11, 2001, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives.",
"page_number": null,
"url": "https://archive.org/details/cmapr4396"
}
],
"url": "https://clevelandart.org/art/2001.39",
"images": {},
"alternate_images": [],
"creditline": "Dudley P. Allen Fund",
"image_credit": null,
"sketchfab_id": null,
"sketchfab_url": null,
"gallery_donor_text": null,
"athena_id": 162085,
"creators": [
{
"id": 180,
"description": "Andr\u00e9 Kert\u00e9sz (American, 1894\u20131985)",
"extent": null,
"qualifier": null,
"role": "artist",
"biography": "Andr\u00e9 Kert\u00e9sz American, b. Austria-Hungary, 1894-1985 Andr\u00e9 Kert\u00e9sz was one of the first photographers to work with the small, 35mm camera, becoming famous for his skill at capturing the fleeting moments of everyday life. In 1911 he bought his first camera and began taking photographs in his native Budapest and the surrounding countryside. The following year, after graduating from Budapest's Academy of Commerce, Kert\u00e9sz took a job as a clerk at the Budapest stock exchange. His interest in photography continued, and he began making spontaneous photographic studies of the city's people and street life. Kert\u00e9sz also took photographs recording the daily life of his fellow soldiers during his service in the Austro-Hungarian army during World War I. After his discharge in 1918, he returned to Budapest and worked there until 1925. He moved to Paris, establishing himself as a freelance photographer, and soon became a member of the avant-garde. His work was published in a variety of magazines and newspapers, including the M\u00fcnchner Illustrierte Presse, Berliner Illustrierte Zeitung, Uhu, Vu, the London Sunday Times, and L'Esprit nouveau. In 1927 he had his first exhibition at the progressive Galerie au Sacre du Printemps and two years later took part in the Film und Foto show in Stuttgart. Kert\u00e9sz became known for his candid photography and was recognized as a leader in modern, subjective photojournalism. In the early 1930s he also made his well-known series called Distortions, featuring almost 200 studies of the nude female figure reflected in a parabolic mirror. In 1936 Kert\u00e9sz came to New York to work for Keystone Studios under a one-year contract. He remained in the city, producing pictures on a freelance basis until joining the staff of Cond\u00e9 Nast Publications in 1949. Following his retirement in 1962, Kert\u00e9sz focused on his own work, remaining active as a photographer until his death. Over the years he published a number of books and was featured in many exhibitions and publications, including Andr\u00e9 Kert\u00e9sz: Of Paris and New York, a major show organized by the Art Institute of Chicago and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (1985). M.M.",
"name_in_original_language": null,
"birth_year": "1894",
"death_year": "1985",
"use_in_caption": true,
"include_extent": false,
"weight": 1
}
],
"legal_status": "accessioned",
"accession_date": "2001-06-04T00:00:00",
"sortable_date": 1928,
"date_added_to_oa": null,
"date_text": "c. 1933",
"collapse_artists": false,
"on_loan": false,
"recently_acquired": false,
"record_type": "object",
"conservation_statement": null,
"has_conservation_images": false,
"cover_accession_number": null,
"is_nazi_era_provenance": false,
"impression": null,
"alternate_titles": [],
"is_highlight": false,
"updated_at": "2026-05-01 06:52:22.411000"
}
}