Willy Kessels

♂ *1889-1974 / Belgium

Works

Solo exhibitions

Willy Kessels, 1930-1960

FOMU Fotomuseum Antwerp, Antwerp (BE)
24 Sep 2010 – 16 Jan 2011

Group

Reimagines the FOMU Collection

FOMU Fotomuseum Antwerp, Antwerp (BE)
17 Feb 2023 – 7 Jan 2024

with Bianca Baldi, Samuel Bourne, Dirk Braeckman, Alvin Langdon Coburn, Lynne Cohen, Gilbert Fastenaekens, Gertrude Fehr, Geert Goiris, Rinko Kawauchi, Man Ray , Grace Ndiritu, Auguste Salzmann …
Photographie, arme de classe / Photography as a weapon of class

La photographie sociale et documentaire en France. 1928-1936

Centre Photographie Geneve, Genève (CH)
12 Feb 2020 – 18 Mar 2020

with Manuel Alvarez Bravo, Denise Bellon, Jacques-Andre Boiffard, Brassai, Marianne Breslauer, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Doisneau, Èmeric Feher, Gisele Freund, John Heartfield, Andre Kertesz, Francois Kollar …
Photographie, arme de classe / Photography as a weapon of class

La photographie sociale et documentaire en France. 1928-1936

Centre Pompidou, Paris (FR)
7 Nov 2018 – 4 Feb 2019

with Manuel Alvarez Bravo, Marcel Arthaud, Denise Bellon, Jacques-Andre Boiffard, Brassai, Marianne Breslauer, Andre Breton, Etienne Carjat, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Doisneau, Nora Dumas, Èmeric Feher …
Eclectic

Gitterman Gallery, New York (US)
5 Jun 2014 – 1 Aug 2014

with Roswell Angier, Bruno Barbey, Adam Bartos, Irene Bayer, William H. Bell, Machiel Botman , Roger Catherineau, Chargesheimer, Pierre Cordier, Robert D'Alessandro, Frantisek Drtikol, Gerard Petrus Fieret …
Chiaroscuro

Luces y sombras en le fotografia

Kowasa Gallery, Barcelona (ES)
2 Oct 2013 – 23 Nov 2013

with Pierre Jean Amar, Joan Colom, César Domela, Frantisek Drtikol, Manuel Esclusa, Gilbert Garcin, Heinz Hajek-Halke, Irina Ionesco, Pierre Jahan, Peter Keetman, Gyoergy Kepes, Ramon Masats …
Voici Paris. Photographic modernities, 1920-1950

Collection of Christian Bouqueret

Multimedia Art Museum, Moscow (RU)
21 Feb 2013 – 26 May 2013

with Erwin Blumenfeld, Germaine Krull, Dora Maar, Man Ray , Daniel Masclet, Jean Moral
Voici Paris, modernités photographiques 1920-1950

the Christian Bouqueret photography collection

Centre Pompidou, Paris (FR)
17 Oct 2012 – 14 Jan 2013

with Pierre Adam, Laure Albin-Guillot, Marcel Arthaud, Aurel Bauh, Erwin Blumenfeld, Jacques-Andre Boiffard, Pierre Boucher, Brassai, Marianne Breslauer, Luis Buñuel, Claude Cahun, Henri Cartier-Bresson …
Collector’s Room Update #2: Reinventing the World

A photo essay on European avant-garde photography

AnamorFose, Izegem (BE)
29 Jun 2012 – 29 Sep 2012

with Alexis Delcroix, Raoul Hausmann, Nikolaï Kossikoff, Henri Martinie, Gerhard Riebicke, Leni Riefenstahl, Sasha Stone, Paul Wolff
Borders/No Borders

Avec des images de la collection du Musée de la Photographie à Charleroi

Centre Culturel de Liege, Liège (BE)
4 Feb 2011 – 26 Mar 2011

with Annemie Augustijns, Nicolas Bomal, Karin Borghouts, Dirk Braeckman, Christian Carez, Pierre Cordier, Olivier Cornil, Julien Coulommier, David De Beyter, Anne de Gelas, Gilbert de Keyser, Vincent Delbrouck …
Borders/No Borders

Historische und zeitgenössische Fotografie aus Belgien

Kommunale Galerie Berlin, Berlin (DE)
24 Oct 2010 – 21 Nov 2010

with Annemie Augustijns, Nicolas Bomal, Karin Borghouts, Dirk Braeckman, Christian Carez, Pierre Cordier, Olivier Cornil, David De Beyter, Anne de Gelas, Gilbert de Keyser, Vincent Delbrouck, Lara Gasparotto …
exposed

Erotische Fotografie des 20. Jahrhunderts

in focus Galerie, Köln (DE)
16 Jan 2010 – 28 Feb 2010

with Alfons Alt, Eve Arnold, Bruno Bernard (Bernard of Hollywood), Ruth Bernhard, Günter Blum, Alvin Booth, Edouard Boubat, Yann Charbonnier, Lucien Clergue, Herbert Doering-Spengler, Bruce Davidson, Frantisek Drtikol …
Photo20esimo

maestri della fotografia del XX secolo

Museo d'Arte, Lugano (CH)
5 Oct 2008 – 11 Jan 2009

with Berenice Abbott, Paola Agosti, Manuel Alvarez Bravo, Arthur Ann Segan, Nobuyoshi Araki, Diane Arbus, Richard Avedon, David Bailey, Olivo Barbieri, Gian Paolo Barbieri, Gabriele Basilico, Herbert Bayer …
FOTOGRAFÍA ABSTRACTA (1920-1970)

Kowasa Gallery, Barcelona (ES)
15 Nov 2007 – 12 Jan 2008

with Alvin Langdon Coburn, César Domela, Raoul Hausmann, Jaroslav Roessler, Carl Struewe
Un secolo a nudo

Bel Vedere Fotografia, Milano (IT)
5 Dec 2006 – 21 Jan 2007

with Franco Fontana, Alfred Cheney Johnston, Andre Kertesz, Robert Mapplethorpe, Carlo Mollino, Karl F. Struss, Roy Stuart, Shoji Ueda, Wilhelm von Gloeden
Belgische Fotografen 1840-2005

FOMU Fotomuseum Antwerp, Antwerp (BE)
24 Jun 2005 – 18 Sep 2005

with Dirk Braeckman, Jean-Paul Brohez, Marcel Broodthaers, Paul Casaer, Pierre Cordier, Anne Daems, Carl de Keyzer, Jean-Paul Deridder, Wouter Deruytter, Peter Downsbrough, Gilbert Fastenaekens, Felten & Massinger …

Events

Photo Symphony

Guernsey Photography Festival 2026

Guernsey Photography Festival, Guernsey (GB)
3 Oct 2026

with Debi Cornwall, Katel Delia, Yael Martinez, Malekeh Nayiny, Martin Parr, Caroline Ruffault
Gibellina Photoroad Open Air & Site-specific Festival

Gibellina: Italian Capital of Contemporary Art 2026

Images Gibellina, Palermo (IT)
4 Jul 2026 – 6 Sep 2026

with Stefano Cerio, Jacopo Di Cera, Teresa Giannico, Alice Grassi
Photographies Online

ADER NORDMANN DOMINIQUE, Paris (FR)
5 Dec 2025 – 17 Dec 2025

with Eugene Atget, Marcel Bovis, Arturo Bragaglia, Brassai, Edward S. Curtis, Maxime du Camp, Gisele Freund, André Giroux, Lotte Jacobi, Andre Kertesz, Charles Marville, Felix Moulin …
Paris Photo 2025 - Group Show

Les Douches La Galerie, Paris (FR)
13 Nov 2025 – 16 Nov 2025

with Berenice Abbott, Albarran Cabrera, Dieter Appelt, Roger Ballen, Erwin Blumenfeld, Joël Denot, Alain Fleischer, Arlene Gottfried, Eli Lotar, Ray K. Metzker, Denis Roche, Emmanuel Sougez
Art Antwerp 2023

Art Antwerp, Antwerp (BE)
15 Dec 2023 – 17 Dec 2023

with Albarran Cabrera, James Barnor, Vincent Delbrouck, Nicolas Dhervillers, Lara Gasparotto, Mika Horie, Frank Horvat, Miho Kajioka, Margaret Lansink, Gert Motmans, Augustin Rebetez, Juanan Requena …
Paris Photo 2022

Paris Photo , Paris (FR)
10 Nov 2022 – 13 Nov 2022

with Edouard Elias, Laurence Aegerter, Slim Aarons, Berenice Abbott, Marina Abramovic, Robert Adams, Horst Ademeit, Ruven Afanador, Albarran Cabrera, David Alekhuogie, Lola Alvarez Bravo, Ljubodrag Andric …
Photographs from a private collection

ADER NORDMANN DOMINIQUE, Paris (FR)
11 Mar 2022 – 14 Mar 2022

with Bruno Bernard (Bernard of Hollywood), Eva Besnyoe, Ilse Bing, Giancarlo Botti, Margaret Bourke-White, Robert Capa, Gilles Caron, Raymond Cauchetier, Martin Chambi, William Claxton, Jean Clemmer, Louise Dahl-Wolfe …
Photography / Fotografie

Palais Dorotheum, Wien (AT)
25 Oct 2021 – 3 Nov 2021

with Nobuyoshi Araki, Werner Bischof, Margaret Bourke-White, Jaroslav Brabec, Bill Brandt, Josef Breitenbach, Guenter Brus, Cornell Capa, Jewgeni Chaldej, William Claxton, Lucien Clergue, Bruce Davidson …
Photography from the 19th - 21st Century

Bassenge Fotoauktionen, Berlin (DE)
7 Jun 2021 – 15 Jun 2021

with Carl Albiker, Henri Bechard, Dimitry Baltermants, Max Baur, Felice Beato, Boris Becker, Francis Bedford, Sibylle Bergemann, Karl Blossfeldt, Felix Bonfils, Brassai, Rene Burri …
Photography from the 19th - 21st Century

Photographie des 19. bis 21. Jahrhunderts

Bassenge Fotoauktionen, Berlin (DE)
1 Jun 2020 – 8 Jun 2020

with Leopold Ahrendts, Dieter Appelt, Sibylle Bergemann, Bisson Freres, Adolphe Braun, Jewgeni Chaldej, Lucien Clergue, Arno Fischer, F. C. Gundlach, Robert Haeusser, Heinz Hajek-Halke, Raoul Hausmann …
PHOTOGRAPHIE

MODERNE & CONTEMPORAINE

AGUTTES NEUILLY, Paris (FR)
19 Oct 2019 – 20 Oct 2019

with Berenice Abbott, Laure Albin-Guillot, Angelo, Nobuyoshi Araki, Edouard Boubat, Charley Case, Václav Chochola, Lucien Clergue, Robert Doisneau, Frantisek Drtikol, Joan Fontcuberta, Jaromir Funke …
Photographs & photobooks

A l'occasion de Paris Photo - Collection Sudre et divers

ADER NORDMANN DOMINIQUE, Paris (FR)
7 Nov 2018 – 8 Nov 2018

with Berenice Abbott, Laure Albin-Guillot, Manuel Alvarez Bravo, Eugene Atget, Claude Azoulay, Edouard Baldus, Felice Beato, Eva Besnyoe, Werner Bokelberg, Edouard Boubat, Margaret Bourke-White, Bill Brandt …
Photographies et 'esprit de saint-tropez'

Quai des encheres, Mâcon (FR)
16 Jun 2016

with Richard Avedon, Charley Case, Raymond Cauchetier, Robert-Jean Chapuis, Patrick Demarchelier, Luc Fournol, Charles Henneghien, Andre Morain, Karin Szekessy
Contemporary Art + Photography

Lempertz, Köln (DE)
27 May 2016 – 3 Jun 2016

with Dieter Appelt, Bernd & Hilla Becher, Karl Blossfeldt, Edward Burtynsky, Robert Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Chargesheimer, Frantisek Drtikol, El Lissitzky, Elliott Erwitt, Andreas Feininger, Thomas Florschuetz …
PHOTOGRAPHIE

L.J. SAS SIGNATURES

Le Floc'h, Paris (FR)

with Berenice Abbott, Laure Albin-Guillot, Paul Almasy, Eugene Atget, Denise Bellon, Fan Bing Bing, Pierre Boucher, Marcel Bovis, Brassai, Rene Burri, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Lucien Clergue …
Photographies

ADER NORDMANN DOMINIQUE, Paris (FR)

with Eugene Atget, Edouard Baldus, Bisson Freres, Felix Bonfils, Edouard Boubat, Pierre Boucher, Samuel Bourne, Marcel Bovis, Adolphe Braun, Frantisek Drtikol, Pierre Dubreuil, Èmeric Feher …
Dialogue Vintage Photo Fair

1700 m2 of vintage photography & photo books

Dialogue Vintage Photo Fair, Amsterdam (NL)

with Eugene Atget, Eugene Atget, Edouard Baldus, Julia Margaret Cameron, Hans de Kort, Disfarmer (Mike Meyer), Leo Erken, Roger Fenton, Kees Scherer, Bert Teunissen, Ruth van Beek