Everything Is Photograph: The Book Launch of a Biography of André Kertész

We warmly invite you to this special evening celebrating one of US’s most influential artists and his remarkable new biography organized by the Liszt Institute New York taking place on May 11, 2026 at 6:30PM at the Consulate General of Hungary.

Widely regarded as a visionary of modern photography, Hungarian-born André Kertész (born Andor Kertész) left an indelible mark on the visual language of the 20th century. Although his work has long been celebrated internationally—including in the United States—remarkably, more than four decades passed after his death before a comprehensive English-language biography worthy of his legacy was published.

That long-awaited moment has now arrived.

Following years of meticulous research, acclaimed American biographer Patricia Albers brings Kertész’s life and artistic journey into focus in her new book, Everything Is Photograph: A Life of André Kertész. This important publication offers fresh insight into the photographer’s inner world, creative vision, and enduring influence.

To celebrate this milestone, the Hungarian Cultural Center, Liszt Institute New York will host a special book launch event on Monday, May 11 at 6:30 PM at the Consulate General of Hungary in New York.

An Evening of Discovery
The program will feature an approx. 45-minute conversation and presentation with author Patricia Albers and György Németh, Visiting Scholar at Quinnipiac University. Together, they will explore the fascinating circumstances behind the creation of the biography, as well as the life, work, and artistic legacy of Kertész.

The presentation will be followed by a Q&A session, offering the audience a unique opportunity to engage directly with the speakers. The evening will conclude with a book signing by the author.

A Photographer Who Returns Again and Again
This event forms part of the Hungarian Cultural Center’s ongoing commitment to showcasing the achievements of Hungarian-born photographers who made their mark in the United States.

Recent highlights of this thematic focus have included:

coverage and an interview related to a major photography exhibition Kertész, Moholy-Nagy, Capa… / Hungarian Photographers in America (1914-1989) at the Hungarian National Museum between April 6 and August 25, 2024 the showcase of Kertész & Brassaï: Visions of 1930s Paris - The Francis F. Dobo Collection of Hungarian Photography at the Consulate General in New York on December 5, 2024, and now, the launch of Patricia Albers’ biography on May 11, 2026 in the very city that Kertész once called home.
Across these programs, one figure continues to reappear—André Kertész—whose work remains as relevant and compelling today as ever.

The Mystery Behind the Master
Despite his international acclaim, Kertész has long remained something of a mystery in the United States. This very paradox drew Patricia Albers to her subject.

Her fascination began decades ago, when she encountered Czech art historian Anna Fárová’s 1966 monograph on Kertész. Struck by the originality and emotional depth of his images—so distinct from the dominant photographic styles in America—Albers resolved to one day explore his life more deeply.

After completing her biography of painter Joan Mitchell, she turned her full attention to Kertész. What followed was an ambitious and, at times, risky undertaking: researching a figure whose personal life was little documented, and whose Hungarian cultural background was initially unfamiliar to her.

With the invaluable support of Hungarian and Hungarian-American collaborators—who helped translate Kertész’s diaries and correspondence with his brothers—Albers gradually pieced together a portrait of the artist not only as a photographer, but as a man shaped by memory, place, and culture.

Hungarian Roots, Universal Vision
Albers’ research revealed just how profoundly Kertész’s Hungarian upbringing influenced his artistic vision. The vibrant intellectual and cultural life of pre–World War I Budapest—its cafés, literary circles, theaters, and press—formed the backdrop of his early years. Even his family life reflected this environment; his father owned a café, placing Kertész at the heart of a dynamic social and artistic milieu of the era.

This background, combined with an early awareness of social inequality, informed what one writer famously described as Kertész’s role as “the great democrat of modern photography.” His lens consistently turned toward everyday people and intimate, often overlooked moments of life.

Kertész himself once offered a key to understanding his work: “If you want to understand my work, read Endre Ady.”

The connection is striking. Like Ady, Kertész was drawn to Paris, shared a deeply romantic sensibility, and embraced both modernity and tradition while forging an independent creative path. Both artists placed ordinary people at the center of their vision—and both rejected convention in favor of authenticity.

Join Us
We warmly invite you to this special evening celebrating one of US’s most influential artists and the remarkable new biography that brings his story to life.

Patricia Albers, writer

Patricia Albers is a San Francisco Bay Area writer and art historian. She is the author of Joan Mitchell, Lady Painter: A Life, the acclaimed first biography of the abstract painter. Her previous book was Shadows, Fire, Snow: The Life of Tina Modotti. Using photographs discovered during her research, Albers co-organized the internationally traveling exhibition Tina Modotti and the Mexican Renaissance.

Albers’s essays, art reviews, and features have appeared in numerous museum catalogs and other publications. She has served as a panelist for the National Endowment for the Humanities and a juror for Biographers International Plutarch Award, and she is a lecturer emerita at San Jose State University.

György Németh, art historian

György Németh is currently a visiting scholar at Quinnipiac University and a freelance researcher, curator, and archivist specializing in the history of photography. Over the past several years, much of his work has focused on archiving the Francis F. Dobo Collection. His research explores the diaspora of twentieth-century Hungarian émigré photographers and the networks surrounding them. His main area of interest is figures such as André Kertész, Brassaï, Ylla, Nora Dumas, and Ergy Landau, and their later careers and legacies.