Éva Besnyő (29 April 1910 – 12 December 2003) was a Dutch-Hungarian photographer who participated in the ''Nieuwe Fotografie'' (New Photography) movement.

Biography

Born in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

, Besnyö was brought up in a well-to-do Jewish home. In 1928, she started to study photography at József Pécsi's studio where she also served an apprenticeship.Marion Beckers, "Eva Besnyö"
Jewish Women Encyclopedia. Retrieved 25 March 2013. In 1930, at the age of 20, she moved to

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

where she first worked for advertising photographer René Ahrlé before working on photoreportages with the press photographer Peter Weller. She became part of the social and political circle of intellectuals which included

György Kepes György Kepes (; October 4, 1906 – December 29, 2001) was a Hungarian-born painter, photographer, designer, educator, and art theorist. After immigrating to the U.S. in 1937, he taught design at the New Bauhaus (later the School of Design, t ...

Joris Ivens Georg Henri Anton "Joris" Ivens (18 November 1898 – 28 June 1989) was a Dutch documentary filmmaker. Among the notable films he directed or co-directed are '' A Tale of the Wind'', ''The Spanish Earth'', ''Rain'', ''...A Valparaiso'', '' Misèr ...

László Moholy-Nagy László Moholy-Nagy (; ; born László Weisz; July 20, 1895 – November 24, 1946) was a Kingdom of Hungary, Hungarian painter and photographer as well as a professor in the Bauhaus school. He was highly influenced by Constructivism (art), con ...

, Otto Umbehr and

Robert Capa Robert Capa (; born Endre Ernő Friedmann, ; October 22, 1913 – May 25, 1954) was a Hungarian-American war photographer and photojournalist. He is considered by some to be the greatest combat and adventure photographer in history.Kershaw, Al ...

. In 1931, she opened her own studio where she was successful in receiving agency work. Her well-known photograph of the Romani boy with a cello on his back stems from that period."Eva Besnyö: From 22 May 2012 until 23 September 2012"
Jeu de Paume. Retrieved 25 March 2013. Threatened by the onset of

National Socialism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was frequ ...

in 1932, she moved to

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

with her Dutch friend John Fernhout whom she married. With the assistance of her mother in law

Charley Toorop Annie Caroline Pontifex Fernhout-Toorop (24 March 18915 November 1955), known as Charley Toorop (), was a Dutch painter and lithographer. Life Charley Toorop was born in Katwijk. She was the daughter of Jan Toorop and Annie Hall. She married the ...

, she participated in exhibitions which led to commissions in press photography, portraits, fashion and architecture. Besnyö was a member of Nederlandsche Vereeniging voor Ambachts- en Nijverheidskunst (V.A.N.K.) the Dutch Association for Craft and Craft Art. Her solo exhibition in the Van Lier art gallery in 1933 consolidated her recognition in the Netherlands. Besnyö experienced a further breakthrough with her architectural photography only a few years later: translating the idea of functionalist "New Building" into a "New Seeing". Unable to work during the

German occupation of the Netherlands Despite Dutch neutrality, Nazi Germany German invasion of the Netherlands, invaded the Netherlands on 10 May 1940 as part of ''Fall Gelb'' (Case Yellow). On 15 May 1940, one day after the Rotterdam Blitz, bombing of Rotterdam, the Dutch forces ...

, she went into hiding. After the war she again received commissions for documentary work but became less active as she raised her two children fathered by the graphic designer Wim Brusse. In the 1970s, she was active in the Dutch feminist movement Dolle Mina, fighting for equal rights and photographing street protests.

Photographs for Dutch stamps (1947)

Besnyo1947-2.png Besnyo1947-4.png Besnyo1947-7.png Besnyo1947-10.png Besnyo1947-20.png

Exhibitions

*1955: work selected for

The Family of Man ''The Family of Man'' was an ambitious exhibition of 503 photographs from 68 countries curated by Edward Steichen, the director of the New York City Museum of Modern Art's (MoMA) department of photography. According to Steichen, the exhibitio ...

international touring exhibition by

Edward Steichen Edward Jean Steichen (; March 27, 1879 – March 25, 1973) was a Luxembourgish American photographer, painter and curator and a pioneer of fashion photography. His gown images for the magazine ''Art et Décoration'' in 1911 were the first modern ...

and

MoMA The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

; *1982: ''N’halve eeuw werk'', Amsterdams Historisch Museum. Amsterdam; *1991: ''Onbekende foto’s'', Jewish Historical Museum. Amsterdam *1992: ''Photographien 1930–1989'', Das Verborgene Museum. Berlin *1992: '' Vintage Prints'', Amsterdams Historisch Museum. Amsterdam; *2012: Retrospective, Jeu de Paume, Paris."Eva Besnyö, 1910-2003 : l'image sensible"
Jeu de Paume. Retrieved 25 March 2013.

References

External links

Examples of Eva Besnyö's work from the Van Lier Art Gallery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Besnyo, Eva 1910 births 2002 deaths Artists from Amsterdam Photographers from Budapest Dutch Jews Hungarian emigrants to the Netherlands Dutch women photographers Hungarian Jews Hungarian women photographers Hungarian photographers Burials at Zorgvlied Cemetery

Biography

Photographs for Dutch stamps (1947)

Exhibitions

References

Further reading

External links