Distortion #5
Maker
André Kertész
(American, born in Hungary, 1894 - 1985)
Date1933
MediumGelatin silver print
DimensionsImage (Sheet): 7 × 5 1/16 in. (17.8 × 12.9 cm)
Credit LineGift of the Estate of Lester and Betty Guttman
Collections
Object number2014.456
Status
Not on viewDistortions of the human figure, was a popular subject among surrealist artists who liked to transform the familiar into something strange. A member of the Parisian avant-garde, André Kertész was commissioned to produce his Distortion series in 1933. He used fairground mirrors to create experimental nude studies, distorting the historically revered female nude. It is possible that Kertész’s interest in distorted images grew out of his experience photographing the wavy bodies of swimmers refracted in a pool.
