Untitled

Brassaï (Gyula Halász)WW-1932-140437

1932·Gelatin silver print·23.6 × 17.3 cm (9 5/16 × 6 13/16 in.)

<p>A Hungarian transplant in Paris, Brassaï possessed an “infatuation with outcasts,” as he phrased it, and documented the characters of the city’s nocturnal underworld. His celebrated images, published in 1932 as Paris de nuit (Paris by Night), changed both the way people saw Paris and the way other photographers took pictures. Inspired by his late-night wanderings, the book depicts lovers and prostitutes, petty thieves and policemen, the lights of bars and the backstage areas of dance halls. This photograph of wet paving stones, lit by an artificial light outside the image’s frame, was featured on the cover of the book.</p>

Catalogue

Year: 1932
Medium: Gelatin silver print
Dimensions: 23.6 × 17.3 cm (9 5/16 × 6 13/16 in.)
Collection: Art Institute of Chicago
Artist: Brassaï (Gyula Halász)

Artist

Brassaï (Gyula Halász)

Printmaking

Brassaï was a French photographer and artist best known for his nocturnal photographs of Paris from the 1930s onwards. Working primarily in black and white, he documented the city's underworld, street life, and architectural details with a distinctive graphic sensibility that emphasized shadow, texture, and geometric form. His photographs of graffiti, brothels, and nightclubs established a visual vocabulary for urban modernism that influenced generations of photographers. He also worked in sculpture, drawing, and printmaking, extending his formal investigations across multiple media throughout his career.

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