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The Arts Intel Report

Franz Hubmann: Artist Portraits—The Helmut Klewan Donation

July 2 – Oct 10, 2021
Albertinaplatz 1, 1010 Wien, Austria

The Austrian photographer Franz Hubmann (1914–2007) began his career as a textile engineer. After the Second World War, when he was 32, Hubmann decided his hobby of photography could be more. He studied for three years at the Graphische Lehr-und Versuchsanstalt in Vienna, and in 1954 founded Magnum: The Magazine for Modern Life. It wasn’t long before Hubmann’s candid shots brought him renown. He photographed people at the Viennese Café Hawelka as they lounged with morning and afternoon coffee. He snapped life in Paris, Hamburg, and New York. Referred to as the Austrian Cartier-Bresson, Hubmann made portraits of the world’s most prominent people. This exhibition focuses on his photographic portraiture, and includes images of Picasso, Chagall, Giacometti, and Warhol. —E.C.