Exhibition in Budapest: Jacques Henri Lartigue - Life in Color

One of the surprise-oeuvres of photography is that of the French painter Jacques Henri Lartigue (1894–1986), who was born 125 years ago. He became a world-renowned photographer at the age of 69, following his extremely successful solo exhibition showcased at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, immediately becoming unevadable in the history of photography.

He was documenting his life from the age of 6, keeping an “optical notebook.” He is interested in everything, his curiosity knows no limits. He is mesmerized by the possibility of capturing the one-time, unreproducible experiences, situations, and the observed visual interrelations in his photographs. He is not only seized by the joy of seeing, or the creation of images, but also by using the technical device itself, the camera, and the vast repository of possibilities it offers.

His main subjects were the achievements of technical innovation, flying, car races, speed, social life, women, beauty, and traveling. He magically turned the small miracles of everyday life, the enchanting conjunctions of objects and lights into a common memory for all of us. He disregarded photographic conventions; he followed his heart when taking photographs, he enjoyed observation, photography, and life itself.

1913-173
Jacques Henri Lartigue, Simone Roussel vezeti a “kétkerekű bobot”, Rouzat, Franciaország, 1913 szeptember © Ministère de la Culture France/ Association des Amis de Jacques Henri Lartigue, France
Jacques Henri Lartigue, Simone Roussel driving the “two-wheeled bob,” Rouzat, France, September 1913 © Ministère de la Culture France/ Association des Amis de Jacques Henri Lartigue, France

Lartigue is a photographer of the bright side of life, whose visual diary reveals a history of the 20th century filled with beauty and joyful moments.

His full photographic oeuvre consists of 120,000 negatives, glass plates, slides, moving pictures, and 126 photo albums with the accompanying texts.

The Life in Color exhibition showcases a selection of the color images making up about one-third of the oeuvre, providing an overview of not only the most determining relationships he had, his journeys and his everyday life, but also his experimentation with the various techniques of color photography. (Gabriella Csizek, curator)