Lucien Hervé

Lucien Hervé (1910-2007) is one of the major figures in architectural photography.

Lucien Hervé (Laszlo Elkan) was born in 1910 in a small town in Hungary. He moved to Paris in 1929, where he spent the rest of his life. He started to photograph in the late 1930’s. In 1949 he met Le Corbusier, one of the leading figures of modern architecture. He became his « official photographer » between 1949 and 1965. His visionary eye and his remarkable work regarding the irruption of geometry and the construction of images by shadow and light, quickly aroused the interest of other architects such as Alvar Aalto, Marcel Breuer, Pier Luigi Nervi, Richard Neutra, Oscar Niemeyer, Jean Prouvé, etc. His work has entered the most important international collections : Albertina in Vienne, Centre Pompidou in Paris, Victoria and Albert Museum in London, Getty Research Institut in Los Angeles, MOMA in New York, CCA in Montréal, Kahitsuka Kyoto Museum of Contemporary Art in Kyoto, M+ Museum in Hong Kong, Matisse Museum in Nice, agnès b. collection in Paris... There has been a multiplication of exhibitions and retrospectives : Jeu de Paume (2017), Centre Pompidou (1987, 2010), Decorative Arts Museum (1963, 1966), BNF (1964), FUGA-Center of Architecture in Budapest (2019), Jakopi Gallery in Ljubljana (2019), Galerie der Moderne in München (2014, 2018), Musée Benaki in Athènes (2016), Matisse Museum in Nice (2014), Fondation Le Corbusier (2007, 2014), Fine Arts Museum in Budapest (2010), House of Photography Robert Doisneau (2010), Berardo Collection (2008), Hungarian House of Photography – Mai Mano House (2008), Espace Louis Vuitton (2006), Carnavalet Museum (2005), Budapest Gallery (1989), Suomen Rakennustaiteen Museo in Helsinki (1963, 1976, 1987), etc.