Editing Brassaï

{{Short description|Hungarian-French photographer}}
{{Eastern name order|Gyula Halász}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Brassaï 
| image              = Brassai-123.jpg
| caption            = Self-portrait
| birth_name         = Gyula Halász
| birth_date         = {{birth date|1899|9|9|df=y}}
| birth_place        = Brassó, [[Transylvania]], [[Kingdom of Hungary]], [[Austria-Hungary]] (today [[Brașov]], Romania)
| death_date         = {{death date and age|1984|7|8|1899|9|9|df=y}}
| death_place        = [[Beaulieu-sur-Mer]], France
| alma_mater         = [[Hungarian University of Fine Arts|Hungarian Academy of Fine Arts]]
| occupation         = Photographer, writer, sculptor and painter
| spouse             = Gilberte-Mercédès Boyer (m. 1948)
}}

'''Brassaï''' ({{IPA|fr|bʁasaj|lang}}; pseudonym of '''Gyula Halász''', {{IPA|hu|ˈɟulɒ ˈhɒlaːs|lang}}; 9 September 1899 – 8 July 1984) was a Hungarian–French photographer, sculptor, [[medalist]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Brassaï |title=In memoriam |chapter=in: Le club français de la médaille |publisher=L'administration des monnaies et médailles |location=Paris |volume=Deuxième Semestre 1984 |pages=101 |language=fr}}</ref> writer, and filmmaker who rose to international fame in France in the 20th century. He was one of the numerous Hungarian artists who flourished in Paris beginning between the [[world war]]s.

In the early 21st century, the discovery of more than 200 letters and hundreds of drawings and other items from the period 1940 to 1984 has provided scholars with material for understanding his later life and career.

==Early life and education==
Gyula Halász, a.k.a. Brassaï (pseudonym), was born on 9 September 1899 in Brassó, [[Transylvania]], [[Kingdom of Hungary]], [[Austria-Hungary]] (today [[Brașov]], Romania) to an Armenian mother and a Hungarian father. He grew up speaking Hungarian and Romanian. When he was three his family lived in Paris for a year, while his father, a professor of French literature, taught at the [[University of Paris|Sorbonne]].

As a young man, he studied painting and sculpture at the [[Hungarian University of Fine Arts|Hungarian Academy of Fine Arts]] (Magyar Képzőművészeti Egyetem) in [[Budapest]]. He joined a [[cavalry]] regiment of the [[Austria-Hungary|Austro-Hungarian]] army, where he served until the end of the [[First World War]]. He cited [[Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec]] as an artistic influence.<ref>"Brassaï" in Horst Woldemar Janson, Anthony F. Janson, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=MMYHuvhWBH4C History of Art: The Western Tradition]''. Prentice Hall Professional, 2004; {{ISBN|978-0-13-019732-0}}</ref>

==Career==
[[File:Brassai-1681052842.JPG|thumb|Brassaï (1936) <br>(photo by [[Emiel van Moerkerken]]) ]]
Following WWI, his hometown of Brassó, and the rest of [[Transylvania]], was transferred from the [[Kingdom of Hungary]] to [[Romania]] at the [[Treaty of Trianon]]. Halász left for [[Berlin]] in 1920 where he worked as a journalist for the Hungarian papers ''Keleti'' and ''Napkelet''.<ref name="BrassaiLetters8">Brassai, ''Letters to My Parents'', 1997, p. 8</ref> He started studies at the Berlin-[[Charlottenburg]] Academy of Fine Arts (''Hochschule für Bildende Künste''), now [[Universität der Künste Berlin]]. There he became friends with several older Hungarian artists and writers, including the painters [[Lajos Tihanyi]] and [[Bertalan Pór]], who later moved to Paris and became part of the Hungarian circle.<ref name="Brassai">[https://books.google.com/books?id=TTue2fyImSMC&pg=PA105 Brassai, ''Letters to My Parents'', University of Chicago Press, 1995, p. 241.] Accessed 6 September 2010.</ref>

In 1924, Halasz moved to Paris to live, where he would stay for the rest of his life. He began teaching himself the French language by reading the works of [[Marcel Proust]]. Living among the gathering of young artists in the [[Montparnasse]] quarter, he took a job as a journalist. He soon became friends with the American writer [[Henry Miller]], and the French writers [[Léon-Paul Fargue]] and [[Jacques Prévert]]. In the late 1920s, he lived in the same hotel as Tihanyi.<ref name="Brassai" />

Miller later played down Brassai's claims of friendship. In 1976 he wrote of Brassai: "[[Alfred Perles|Fred [Perles]]] and I used to steer shy of him – he bored us." Miller added that the biography Brassai had written of him was typically "padded", "full of factual errors, full of suppositions, rumors, documents he filched which are largely false or give a false impression."<ref>The Durrell-Miller Letters, 1935–80, Ed. Ian S. Macniven, Faber & Faber, 1988.</ref>

Halász's job and his love of the city, whose streets he often wandered late at night, led to photography. He first used it to supplement some of his articles for more money, but rapidly explored the city through this medium, in which he was tutored by his fellow Hungarian [[André Kertész]]. He later wrote that he used photography "to capture the beauty of streets and gardens in the rain and fog, and to capture Paris by night."<ref name="Sayag">Alain Sayag, ed., ''Brassai: The Monograph'', Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 2000.</ref> Using the name of his birthplace, Halász went by the pseudonym "Brassaï," which means "from Brasso."

Brassaï captured the essence of the city in his photographs, published as his first collection in the 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 Henry Miller. In addition to photos of the seedier side of Paris, Brassai portrayed scenes from the life of the city's [[High society (social class)|high society]], its intellectuals, its ballet, and the [[grand opera]]s. 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]].{{cn|date=April 2024}}

Young Hungarian artists continued to arrive in Paris through the 1930s and the Hungarian circle absorbed most of them. Kertész immigrated to New York City in 1936. Brassai befriended many of the new arrivals, including [[Ervin Marton]], a nephew of Tihanyi, whom he had been friends with since 1920. Marton developed his own reputation in [[street photography]] in the 1940s and 1950s.  Brassaï continued to earn a living with commercial work, also taking photographs for the U.S. magazine ''[[Harper's Bazaar]]''.<ref name="Sayag" /> He was a founding member of the [[Rapho (agency)|Rapho]] agency, created in Paris by Charles Rado in 1933.{{cn|date=April 2024}}

Brassaï's photographs brought him international fame. In 1948, he had a one-man show at the [[Museum of Modern Art]] (MoMA) in New York City, which travelled to [[George Eastman House]] in Rochester, New York; and the [[Art Institute of Chicago]], Illinois.<ref>[http://www.photo-seminars.com/Fame/Brassai.htm "Brassai Biography"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070212013530/http://www.photo-seminars.com/Fame/Brassai.htm |date=12 February 2007 }}, Photo-Seminars. Retrieved 2 September 2010.</ref> MoMA exhibited more of Brassai's works in 1953, 1956, and 1968.<ref name="BrassaiLetters">Brassai, [https://books.google.com/books?id=TTue2fyImSMC&q=Brassai ''Letters to My Parents''], Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1997, p. xviii. Retrieved 2 September 2010</ref>
He was presented at the [[Rencontres d'Arles]] festival in France in 1970 (screening at the Théâtre Antique, ''Brassaï'' by Jean-Marie Drot), in 1972 (screening ''Brassaï si, Vominino'' by [[René Burri]]), and in 1974 (as guest of honour).{{cn|date=April 2024}}

In 1979, Brassaï was inducted into the [[International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Brassaï (Gyula Halász) |url=https://iphf.org/inductees/brassai/ |access-date=2022-07-23 |website=International Photography Hall of Fame |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Marriage==
In 1948, Brassaï married Gilberte Boyer, a French woman. She worked with him in supporting his photography. In 1949, he became a naturalized French citizen after years of being [[Statelessness|stateless]].<ref>[http://www.romanianculture.org/personalities/Brassai.htm "Brassai"], Prodan Romanian Cultural Foundation. Retrieved 2 September 2010.</ref>

==Death==
Brassaï died on 8 July 1984 at his home on the [[French Riviera]] near Nice and was buried at [[Montparnasse Cemetery]] in Paris. He was 84 years old.<ref>{{cite news|first1=Andy|last1=Grundberg|access-date=7 June 2018|title=Brassai, Photographer of Paris Nigtlife, Dies|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/07/12/obituaries/brassai-photographer-of-paris-nightlife-dies.html|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=12 July 1984 }}</ref>

==Publications by Brassaï==
* ''Paris de Nuit''. Paris: Arts et Métiers Graphiques, 1933. With text by [[Paul Morand]].
**''Paris la Nuit''. Paris: [[Groupe Flammarion|Flammarion]], 2001. {{ISBN|978-2080106025}}. With a preface by Morand.
* ''Conversations avec Picasso.'' Paris: [[Éditions Gallimard|Gallimard]], 1964; 1997. A memoir.<ref>{{cite news|first1=Alan|last1=Riding|access-date=7 June 2018|title=Brassaï – Photography – Auction – Report|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/30/arts/design/30bras.html|newspaper=The New York Times|date=30 September 2006|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
** ''Conversations with Picasso.'' Chicago, IL: [[University of Chicago Press|University of Chicago]], 1999; {{ISBN|0-226-07148-0}}. Translated by Jane Marie Todd.
* ''Henry Miller: The Paris Years.'' Arcade Publishing, 1975.
* ''The Secret Paris of the 30s.'' New York: [[Thames & Hudson]], 1976; {{ISBN|0-500-27108-9}}.
* ''Letters to My Parents''. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago, 1997.

==Collections==
Brassaï's work is held in the following public collections:
*[[Art Institute of Chicago]], Chicago, IL: 47 prints (as of June 2020)<ref>Brassaï, Art Institute of Chicago, https://www.artic.edu/collection?q=%22Brassai%22%20</ref>
*[[Museum of Modern Art]], New York City: 112 prints (as of June 2018)<ref>{{cite web|access-date=7 June 2018|title=Brassaï (Gyula Halász)|url=https://www.moma.org/artists/745|website=[[Museum of Modern Art]]}}</ref>
*[[Rijksmuseum]], Amsterdam: 9 prints (as of November 2018)<ref>{{cite web|access-date=18 November 2018|title=Search – Rijksmuseum|url=https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/search?q=brassai&v=&s=&ii=0&p=1|website=Rijksmuseum}}</ref>
*[[Tate]], London: 30 prints (as of June 2018)<ref>{{cite news|last1=Tate|access-date=7 June 2018|title=Brassaï 1899–1984|url=http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/brassai-11259|website=[[Tate Etc.]]}}</ref>
*[[Victoria and Albert Museum]], London: 383 items (as of June 2018)<ref>{{cite web|access-date=7 June 2018|title=Your Search Results|url=https://collections.vam.ac.uk/search/?listing_type=&offset=0&limit=15&narrow=&extrasearch=&q=Brassa%25C3%25AF+&commit=Search&quality=0&objectnamesearch=&placesearch=&after=&before=&namesearch=&materialsearch=&mnsearch=&locationsearch=|website=[[Victoria and Albert Museum]]}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
*[[Anne Wilkes Tucker|Tucker, Anne Wilkes]], with Richard Howard and Avis Berman. ''Brassaï:  The Eye of Paris.'' Houston, TX: Houston Museum of Fine Arts, 1997. {{ISBN|0-8109-6380-9}}
*Marja Warehime, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=6Nd30fBYDDcC Brassaï: Images of Culture and the Surrealist Observer].'' LSU Press, 1998. {{ISBN|0-8071-2276-9}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}    
*[http://www.masters-of-photography.com/B/brassai/brassai.html "Brassaï" at Masters of Photography]
*[http://www.iphotocentral.com/showcase/showcase_view.php/24/0/280/1/1 Brassai: The Transylvanian Parisian] at I Photo Central
*[http://www.thegreatcat.org/the-cat-in-art-and-photos-2/cats-in-art-20th-century/brassai-gyula-halasz-1899-1984-hungarian/ Brassai's Cats]

{{Authority control (arts)}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brassai}}
[[Category:1899 births]]
[[Category:1984 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Brașov]]
[[Category:Hungarian emigrants to France]]
[[Category:Hungarian photographers]]
[[Category:Hungarian people of Armenian descent]]
[[Category:French people of Armenian descent]]
[[Category:French photographers]]
[[Category:Portrait photographers]]
[[Category:Street photographers]]
[[Category:Hungarian University of Fine Arts alumni]]
[[Category:Burials at Montparnasse Cemetery]]
[[Category:Naturalized citizens of France]]