From Prostitutes to Picasso: How Brassaï Conquered the World

The great Pablo Picasso held Brassaï in high regard. He said that his talent was a gold mine for an artist. But the gifted Hungarian chose photography and became famous for singing the praises of Paris. His pictures include everything from the Champs Elysees and the Eiffel Tower to Montmartre and Notre Dame. But Brassaï’s fame came from his pictures of the inhabitants of the Parisian underworld: tramps, prostitutes, dancers and regulars of drinking establishments.

Gyula Halász was born in 1899 in the Transylvanian town of Brassó. It was in honor of his homeland that he took the stage name Brassai, meaning "from Brassó." His family was international: his father was Hungarian, a professor of literature who once taught at the Sorbonne, and his mother was Armenian, an intelligent woman who played the piano brilliantly.

At the end of World War I, Halász went to the front, where he served in the cavalry of the Austro-Hungarian army. Upon his return, he studied sculpture and painting first in Budapest and then in Berlin. But Gyula's dream was Paris, which he once visited with his father as a child.

In 1924, Halas's dream came true and he moved to the capital of France. As befits a true artist, he rented an apartment in the bohemian Montparnasse district. At this time, the pseudonym by which Halas is known throughout the world appeared. Painting did not bring in significant income, so Brassaï earned his living as a journalist.

Fate brought him together with the Parisian photographer André Curtis, thanks to whom he first picked up a camera. Brassaï once said in an interview:

Street photography in the early 20th century was hard work. The photographer had to carry a heavy camera, a tripod, and a bag with accessories. At night, everything became even more difficult. Brassaï did not shoot in the most prosperous areas of Paris. More than once, he had to fight off robbers and hooligans and literally risk his life.

But all the hardships were not in vain. The photographer's first book, "Paris by Night", which included 60 photographs, made him famous. Critics spoke enthusiastically of his work, and the writer Henry Miller called Brassaï "the eye of Paris". What did the photographer photograph, driving the creative bohemia into ecstasy?

The photographer's photographs show brothels, pimps, prostitutes, drunks, unbridled Apaches, kissing couples and groups of revelers. In a word, that very "non-ceremonial" side of Paris that many try not to notice. Like Toulouse-Lautrec once did, Brassaï showed the viewer what is considered ugly, marginal and dangerous as something non-standard, but also deserving of love.

The book of photographs "Paris by Night" made Brassaï not only famous, but also a welcome guest in the creative environment. His work brought him together with great artists Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali, Alberto Giacometti. The photographer had a long-standing friendship with Picasso.

During the Nazi occupation of Paris, the photographer could not do his favorite thing. Therefore, he spent most of his time in the studio of the brilliant painter, talking with him and watching him work. At this time, a whole series of photographs dedicated to Picasso appeared.

The artist highly appreciated Brassaï's gift. He once said:

But when he saw Brassaï's paintings, painted in watercolor and oil, Picasso was outraged that his friend was wasting his time on photography:

But the photographer was happy only when he held a camera in his hands. Over time, his activities expanded. The photographer was invited to work for Harper's Bazaar magazine. From that moment on, he photographed famous models, actors and aristocrats during the day, and at night he continued to immerse himself in the romance of back alleys and seedy places.

Brassaï also tried himself in other creative fields. He designed a ballet for the Sarah Bernhardt Theatre, published several books of prose and memoirs about Picasso and Miller. In 1974, the photographer became a Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters, and in 1976 he was awarded the Order of the Legion of Honor. In 1978, Brassaï received the Grand National Prize for Photography in Paris. The photographer died in 1984 at the age of 85 in Nice.

Brassaï showed us a Paris that rarely makes it onto postcards, but it was in this contrast of light and shadow, luxury and decay that he found his true muse. Do you think photography can show more truth about a city and its people than painting or literature?