Brassai

Art Brokerage: Brassai Hungarian Artist: b. 1899-1984. Hungarian photographer, sculptor and filmmaker, Brassai (pseudonym of Gyula Halasz) (1899 - 1984) was born in Transylvania, Austria-Hungary. He rose to international fame in France in the 20th century. Brassai was one of the numerous Hungarian artists who flourished in Paris beginning between the World Wars. In 1924, he moved to Paris to live, where he would stay for the rest of his life. Brassaï captured the essence of the city in his photographs, published as his first collection in 1933 book entitled Paris de nuit (Paris by Night). His book gained great success, resulting in being called "the eye of Paris" in an essay by his friend Henry Miller. In addition to photos of the seedier side of Paris, Brassai portrayed scenes from the life of the city's high society, its intellectuals, its ballet, and the grand operas. He had been befriended by a French family who gave him access to the upper classes. Brassai photographed many of his artist friends, including Salvador Dalí, Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Alberto Giacometti, and several of the prominent writers of his time, such as Jean Genet and Henri Michaux. In the early 21st century, the discovery of more than 200 letters and hundreds of drawings and other items from the period 1940-1984 has provided scholars with material for understanding his later life and career. Listings wanted by Art Brokerage.