BRASSAÏ (1899 1984) Diaghalev dancer

Sale 1981 - Lot 137

Price Realized: $ 3,680

?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price

Estimate: $ 4,000 - $ 6,000

BRASSAÏ (1899-1984)
Diaghalev dancer. Ferrotyped silver print, 9x6 inches (22.9x15.2 cm.), with Brassaï's hand stamp on verso. 1930s

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Additional Details

Gyula Halasz was born in Hungary in the last year of the 19th century, and only used Brassaï as a name for his photographic pursuits years later. After serving in World War I at the tender age of 17, Brassaï returned home to study fine art. He also started to work in journalism as a means to support his artistic endeavors. When the French finally lifted their ban on the entry of former enemy citizens in 1924, he immediately moved to Paris. He continued working as a journalist, purchasing his first camera in 1930. Brassaï roamed the streets at night, sometimes with friends like Henry Miller. His friend, and fellow Hungarian, Andre Kertész, finally convinced him to photograph these late- evening sojourns. Initially he concentrated on streets and buildings, taking long exposures on a tripod using his burning cigarettes. Flashbulbs came slightly later and Brassaï used them to great effect. Brassaï was brilliant at creating a an unparalleled sense of tension and mood in his photographs. In 1932 a friend took him to a "bal-musette" and introduced Brassaï to Paris's nocturnal demimonde. His work was compiled in the famous book