Elizabeth

1931

Elizabeth joins him in Paris

He had gone back to Hungary in 1930 to visit his family, and after his return to Paris Elizabeth follows him in 1931, despite opposition from her family; she had stayed behind until her future husband was well enough established in Paris for them to marry. Elizabeth and André remain together for the rest of their lives.

1932

Exhibition at the Julien Levy Gallery in New York

At the Julien Levy Gallery in New York the price of his proofs is set at US$20, a large sum of money during the Great Depression.

17 June 1933

Marries Elizabeth

Despite his mother’s death earlier that year, Kertész marries Elizabeth; he is said to have spent less time with his artist friends in favour of his new wife.

1933–1937

Books: “Enfants”, “Paris”, “Nos amies les bêtes”

His first personal book of photographs, Enfants, is published in 1933, and he publishes regularly in the following years: Paris (1934), dedicated to his brothers Imre and Jenő, Nos Amies les bêtes (“Our Friends the Animals”, 1936) and Les Cathédrales du vin (“The Cathedrals of Wine”, 1937).

15 October 1936

Emigrates to New York

Magazines emphasise political stories and stop publishing Kertész for his apolitical subjects; with commissions dropping and persecution of Jews increasing, he and Elizabeth decide to move, which may have saved his life, as four years later France would fall under Nazi occupation. They board the SS Washington and arrive in New York on 15 October 1936, living at the Beaux Arts Hotel in Greenwich Village; deprived of his artist friends, struggling with English and among Americans who reject having their photos taken on the street, he goes through a period he later calls the “absolute tragedy”.

December 1937

His first solo show in New York

In December 1937 Kertész has his first solo show in New York, at the PM Gallery.