Brassaï On The Internet

"There are many photographs which are full of life but which are confusing and difficult to remember. It is the force of an image which matters." -Brassai , Amateur Photographer, June 18, 1969.

Gyula Halász (1899-1984) was a Hungarian photographer, filmmaker and sculptor who went by the professional name, Brassaï. He is best known for his night photographs of Paris in the 1930s. When Henry Miller first arrived for his near decade-long residence in Paris, he sometimes accompanied Brassaï on these excursions. Brassaï also took one of Henry's most iconic photographs, of him leaning against a door frame with a cigarette between his fingers. Miller added to Brassaï's iconic status by dubbing him The Eye Of Paris. The two men remained friends in the following decades, although things seemed to sour near the end after Brassaï wrote the Miller book, Henry Miller: Happy Rock. (?)

There are many anecdotes to tell about these two men together, but this post is meant only as a resource for further internet information about Brassaï.

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BIOGRAPHY

Wikipedia. Intl Photography Hall of Fame. Time Magazine. New Statesman. Pulitzer. New York Times. New York Times obituary. Smithsonian. Temple University. A history of night photography. Washington Post.

Chez Suzy (1932-33), Brassai.

COLLECTIONS & EXHIBITS

Listing of his works held in galleries at Artcyclopedia.
Listing of items held at Georgetown University Library.
Refernces to letters between Brassai and Alfred Perles, and between him and Abe Rattner.
Four prints at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.
1999 exhibit, National Gallery of Art. And at the Getty Museum.
Reviews of the 2000 exhibit, Brassai/Picasso: Conversations With Light -- a) Intl Herald Tribune; b) Absolute Arts.
2003 exhibit, FKG Gallery.
2005 exhibit at the Centre Pompidou in Paris.
2006 Brassaï auction, reported by the New York Times, and iPhoto Central.
2007 exhibit at the Berliner Festspiele.

PHOTOGRAPHS (selection)

Lovers In A Bistro (1932-33)
Backstage at the Folies-Bergere (1933)
"Bijou" of the Montmartre cabarets (1933)
House of Illusion (1933)
Palais Royale Train Station (1933)
Boulevards at the Place de l'opera (1933)
Oldest Police Station in Paris (1933)
Picasso tenant use de les Sculptures (1939)
Ballet School of the Paris Opera (1953)

17 photographs from the 1931-1934 period.
Two pages of photos on Monsieur Photo.
Google Image search results for Brassai.
Flickr search results for Brassai.
Temple U photo gallery.

PUBLICATIONS (incomplete)

Artists of My Life.

Brassai: Letters to My Parents.

Brassai: The Monograph.

Conversations with Picasso. Preface by Miller.

Hans Reichel 1892 - 1958.

Henry Miller, Happy Rock.

Henry Miller: The Paris Years.

Histoire du Marie. Intro by Henry Miller.

Paris By Night. (2)

Miller's Quiet Days in Clichy (1956) with photos by Brassai.

Proust in the Power of Photography.

Secret Paris of the 30s.

Seville en Fete.

Biographies about Brassai: Brassai: An Illustrated Biography; Brassai. See Miller's "The Eye of Paris," which is most widely available in Wisdom of the Heart.

MISCELLANEOUS

Listen to a Brassai interview (in French) on French radio, 1978.

Watch a Brassai interview on French TV, 1960.

In the 1990 film Henry & June, Brassai is portrayed by actor Artus de Penguern.

Caricature of Henry Miller, drawn by Brassai and published in the Chicago Tribune.

How to shoot like Brassai.

Brassai is seen in the The Henry Miller Odyssey documentary.

Brassai joins Miller for the film festival at Cannes, 1960.

Brassaï and Miller at the Hôtel des Terrasses (from Miller Walks).