Frank HORVAT
Frank HORVAT was born on April 28th 1928 in Abbazia (Opatija), a city now in Croatia but at this time it belonged to Italy. He lives in Switzerland with his parents during the Second World War, it is there where he exchanged his postage stamp collection against a 35mm Retinamat camera. Then, Frank HORVAT studied art in Milano and worked in an advertising company. Besides, he freelanced as photographer for Italian magazines.
1950 was the year of his trip to Paris, he met Henri CARTIER-BRESSON and Robert CAPA. In the early 50’s Frank HORVAT moved to London and worked mainly for LIFE and Picture Post. In 1955, he moved definitively in Paris and kept on his career as a fashion photographer. Paris, London and New-York formed his favorite playground. Until the late 80’s he made models pose in these cities to carry out various missions for Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Elle, Glamour and other famous magazines. In the meantime Frank HORVAT realized personal side projects that he has kept working on after his retreat from fashion photography world.
Frank HORVAT, photographer to the multiple projects
Since the end of the 80’s, Frank HORVAT has elected his subjects, he photographs for himself. He carried on several books projects, some of them in partnership with museums and institutions. He maintains a favored relationship with sculpture, as his pictures about Degas’ statues (1990), about the work of the carver Robert COUTURIER (2005) as well, and for the Maillol museum (2014). This interest for the relief of the bodies can be found in his pictures at the Sphinx (1956), a Parisian strip-tease club where he did a documentary work. It allows us to follow a path heading to Trip to Carrara (2011) and Look ma! No hands! (2011) series displaying the same concern about modelling and sculpture.
Fairs and exhibitions:
Frank HORVAT, Galerie GADCOLLECTION, Paris, France, Avril 2017
Museums:
Bibliothèque Nationale Française, Paris, France
Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
Eastman House, Rochester, New York
Fondation Cartier, Paris, France
Fonds National d'Art Contemporain, Ministère de la Culture, Paris, France
Fundació Privada Vila Casas, Barcelona, Spain
High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Georgia
Kunstbibliothek, Berlin, Germany
Ludwig Museum, Cologne, Germany
Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris, France
Musée Carnavalet, Paris, France
Musée de Nantes, Nantes, France
Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris, France
Musée Galliera, Paris, France
Museum of Modern Art, New York, New York
Presentation House, Vancouver, Canada
Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England
Books selection:
Photographic autobiography, Hatje Cantz, Berlin, 2016
Please don’t smile, Hatje Cantz, Berlin, 2015
Maillol Horvat, Gallimard, Paris, 2014
House with Fifteen keys, éditions Terre Bleue, Paris, 2013
Horvat, Frank & Pastoureau, Michel, Figures Romanes, Seuil, Paris 2007
The Horvat labyrinth, Éditions du Chêne, Hachette, Paris, 2006
Horvat photographie Couturier, Gallimard, Paris, 2005
Frank Horvat, Photo Poche n°88, Delpire et Nathan, Paris, 2000
