"A Considerable Degree of Beauty": Nickolas Muray's Photography

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Abstract (max. 250 words):
The photographer Nickolas Muray (1892-1965) occupies a lesser-known place in the pantheon of famous 20th century Hungarian emigré photographers. While other Hungarians, including Kertész, Capa, Munkácsi and Moholy-Nagy, still enjoy celebrity status, Muray’s work has remained relatively obscure. He enjoyed a notably successful lifelong career, both as a portrait photographer and as an innovator in the development of color photography and its commercial applications.

Born in Szeged in 1892, Muray emigrated to the US in 1913. Once he began working in New York City, he became an active participant in the lively group of Hungarian expatriate Greenwich Village artists in the 1920’s.

His early photographic work brought him great success. Vanity Fair magazine frequently commissioned him to make portraits of well known contemporary subjects, including dignitaries both in the US and abroad, writers, artists, dancers and actors from stage and screen, including Hollywood stars.

He traveled to Mexico in the 1930’s. where he met Frida Kahlo. Their clandestine love affair lasted over 30 years. His portraits of the now iconic artist Frida are among his finest and best known works.

Nickolas Muray’s contributions to the field of photography are now long overdue and deserving of re-evaluation.




Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Joyce Berczik Corbett is a research scholar specializing in the decorative arts and folk art of Central Europe, She has curated exhibitions at Mingei International Museum, San Diego, CA and Craft and Folk Art Museum, Los Angeles, CA including: "Between East and West: Folk Art Treasures of Romania" (2010-2011)(co-authored catalog), Hungarian Folk Magic: the Art of Joseph Domjan" (2008)(directed documentary video accompanying exhibition), "Eva Zeisel: Extraordinary Designer Craftsman at 100” (2006-2007) traveled to the Craft and Folk Art Museum, Los Angeles. CA. (2007) “Dowry: Eastern European Painted Furniture, Textiles and Folk Art” (1999)(co-authored catalog), She is on the International Advisory Board of Mingei International Museum, San Diego, CA.She received an M.F.A in Art History and Studio Art, from the University of Washington, Seattle, where she held a Woodrow Wilson Scholarship. She has received IREX (International Research and Exchanges Board) research grants for Romania and Hungary and was a Fulbright Research Scholar to Hungary and the Slovak Republic. She is currently conducts independent research on 20th century Hungarian expatriate artists.