Kertész emigrated to New York in 1936 where, after many years of desultory work for House and Garden magazine, he slowly became integrated into a new establishment of galleries and museums.
Kertész Andor adopted his Gallicized first name, André, after moving to Paris from Budapest, Hungary, in 1925, having decided to make an artistic career as a commercial photographer. In Paris, Kertész worked freelance for illustrated magazines, a form of publishing that was already thriving in his native central Europe. While frequenting the company of painters and sculptors, he also showed his work in ambitious exhibitions of progressive photography, such as the Salon de l'Escalier (Staircase Salon), Paris (1927), and the Film und Foto exhibition in Stuttgart (1929). Kertész emigrated to New York in 1936 where, after many years of desultory work for House and Garden magazine, he slowly became integrated into a new establishment of galleries and museums.