One of the first important works of Kertész's Paris period, Fork was made in 1928 after a meal in Fernand Léger's studio. It quickly became known to many of Kertesz's contemporaries through several significant exhibitions and publications in France and Germany including the Film und Foto show organized in 1929. First shown in the important exhibition at the "Salon de L'Escalier" in Paris, Fork was widely praised for its minimalist vision. Sandra Phillips comments: "The most important single photograph by Kertész in the exhibition was Fork, made that year. Other photographers, such as Paul Outerbridge, showed photographs of ordinary objects in an aesthetic context. Like Kertész's Fork, Outerbridge's Ide Collar defines its subject sculpturally (see lot 278). But Outerbridge gave his composition an appealing flair that made it appropriate as an advertisement. Kertész's Fork, on the other hand, is endowed with a personal quality: delicate, abstracted, yet communicating its essential function. (Phillips, "The Years in Paris", Of Paris and New York, p. 36) Ironically, in 1929 Fork caught the attention of Peter Bruckmann, a sponser of the Film und Foto exhibition, who used the image as an advertisement for his silverware company. (See: Borham, André Kertész: His Life and Work, p. 22 for a reproduction of the advertisement.)

With the prospect of his first one-man exhibition at Au Sacre du Printemps in 1927, Kertész mounted many of his images on vellum. Although Fork was not included in the 1927 show, Kertész similarly presented this print on vellum for exhibition. Two other vintage prints of this image are in The Art Institute of Chicago and the Ford Motor Company Collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.