Hungarian photography in London

We are talking about extremely talented photographers, who had left Hungary to make their names in Germany, France and the USA. Fortunately, in recent years they have been re-discovered in their home-country, and the various exhibitions organised in Hungary have proved that these ’forgotten artists’ are in fact substantial parts of our culture and history of art. But we also had to realize that these artists had long been regarded as real stars beyond our borders, whose works had had a strong influence on Western photography. They have all become known for the profound changes they brought about in photojournalism, as well as abstract, fashion and art photography.

These five photographers have never been featured in the same exhibition before, neither in Hungary nor abroad. As the closing event of the Hungarian EU presidency in London, the Royal Academy of Arts is now putting on a unique exhibition entitledEyewitness: Hungarian Photography in the 20th Century - Brassaï, Capa, Kertész, Moholy-Nagy, Munkácsi, launching on 30 June and open till 2 October.The display of approximately two hundred photographs ranging in date from c.1914–c.1989 is a remarkable achievement. The photos of the five emigrant artists are complemented by works of other great masters of the profession, who stayed in Hungary to make a carrier – Károly Escher, Péter Korniss and József Pécsi, among others -, resulting in a comprehensive summary of 20th century Hungarian photography.

The curators of the exhibition are Péter Baki, Director of the Hungarian Museum of Photography, Clin Ford, founder of the National Media Museum and Sarah Lea, representative of the Royal Academy of Arts.

Eyewitness: Hungarian Photography in the 20th Century- Brassaï, Capa, Kertész, Moholy-Nagy, Munkácsi

Royal Academy of Arts

Open from 30 June to 2 October 2011