Foto Ada

Hungarian, 1895—c. 1944

About

Foto Ada

Hungarian, 1895—c. 1944


Hungarian artist Foto Ada (Elemérné Marsovsky/Ada Ackermann) produced surreal and visually witty photomontages, which served as expressions of the quickening pace of industry and urban growth, and depicted the anxious mood of the Industrialized West during the period of the late 1930s to World War II. Due to a climate of fear created by Nazi propaganda, the rise of Fascism, and the onset of the Second World War, these personal images were probably kept hidden from public view during her lifetime. Aside from the legacy of the collage, a body of dance photographs, and a large scale montage of images in the old Budapest airport attributed to her, little is known about this Hungarian artist. Research has variously identified her as Ada Ackerman (maiden name), or Elemérné Marsovsky (married name). Foto Ada worked as a studio photographer in Budapest, and disappeared in 1944, most likely killed during the invasion of Budapest or sent to her death in the camps.