Synopses & Reviews
Nicknamed the "Eye of Paris" by Henry Miller, Brassai was one of the great European photographers of the twentieth century. This volume of letters and photographs, many published for the first time, chronicles the fascinating early years of Brassai's life and artistic development in Paris and Berlin during the 1920s and 1930s.
Born Gyula Halasz in 1899 in Hungary, Brassai moved to Berlin in 1920 and quickly became part of its intense intellectual life. Among his friends were Moholy-Nagy, Kandinsky, and Kokoschka. In 1924 he moved to France, where he was at the center of the extraordinary art scene in Paris between the two world wars. Brassai shot a remarkable series of photographs while wandering the city at night with Henry Miller and other nocturnal walkers such as Lion-Paul Fargue and Raymond Queneau. The series was published as a book, Paris de nuit, and won Brassai an Emerson gold medal, while Miller wrote his first of many pieces about the photographer. Oddly, Brassai is one of the least understood of the major twentieth-century photographers, possibly because so little is known of his early life and friendships. He was close to many major artists of the modernist era including Picasso, Andre Breton, Man Ray, and Pierre Reverdy and was recognized as an artist of equal standing in his field. Throughout the thirties and forties Brassai's photographs appeared in an array of magazines, including Harper's Bazaar.
The amazing letters Brassai wrote to his parents during his years as a student and struggling artist in Paris and Berlin are published here in English for the first time. Just as Brassai captured in his photographs the texture, mood, and mystery of 1930s Paris, so too inhis letters, through his candid, detailed, and vivid descriptions, he conveys in an immediate and forceful way what it was like to live in that world. An important, revealing work for everyone interested in Brassai and the history of photography, this thoughtful collection will fascinate anyone who wants a firsthand account of Berlin and Paris in the 1920s and 1930s.
"It is a rare photographer indeed whose prints are engraved in our memories in remembrance of emotions comparable to those felt upon reading a literary work. From the outset, Brassai considered all his works as a unified whole. He is probably the only photographer -- at least in France -- to have acquired such a vast audience and mastered his material to such a degree that he can express himself with a flexibility and apparent ease that is almost literary in its nature". -- Jean Gallien, Photo-Monde
Synopsis
Foreword to the English EditionGilbert BrassaiPrefaceThe LettersHallway to ParnassusAndor HorvathEditorial NoteAndor HorvathEducation of a Young ArtistAnne Wilkes Tucker NotesIndex
Synopsis
Nicknamed the "Eye of Paris" by Henry Miller, Brassaandiuml; was one of the great European photographers of the twentieth century. This volume of letters and photographs, many published for the first time, chronicles the fascinating early years of Brassaandiuml;'s life and artistic development in Paris and Berlin during the 1920s and 1930s.
"[Brassaandiuml;] is probably the only photographerand#8212;at least in Franceand#8212;to have acquired such a vast audience and mastered his material to such a degree that he can express himself with a flexibility and apparent ease that is almost literary in its nature."and#8212;Jean Gallien, Photo-Monde
"The letters that Brassaandiuml; wrote to his parents between 1920 and 1940 chronicle the sometimes painful stages by which this gifted man hauled himself from penury to celebrity."and#8212;Peter Hamilton, Times Literary Supplement
"In these proud, protective, occasionally conscience-stricken missives, the young man full of eager dreams emerges as one of the century's pioneering photographers, revered for his lushly atmospheric portraits of Paris after dark."and#8212;Elle
"A fascinating insight into how a bright individual slowly found his calling."and#8212;Christine Schwartz Hartley, New York Times Book Review
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. 249-262) and index.
About the Author
Brassaand#239; (born Gyula Haland#225;sz, 1899-1984) was a photographer, journalist, and author of many photographic monographs and literary works, including
Letters to My Parents,
Conversations with Picasso, and
Proust in the Power of Photography.
Table of Contents
Foreword to the English Edition
Gilbert Brassai
Preface
The Letters
Hallway to Parnassus
Andor Horvath
Editorial Note
Andor Horvath
Education of a Young Artist
Anne Wilkes Tucker
Notes
Index