EN
Portrait of the artist, 1955
Portrait of the artist, 1955

Equipped with his camera, Brassaï (1899-1984) captured the traces and inscriptions of ordinary citizens in the streets of Paris in the early 1930s. Through this practice he immortalised their drawings and discovered a self-expression that is hidden away and unexpected but also omnipresent. In his search for representations of real internal life - which he captured in his spontaneous photographs of urban life, the best-known being his series of night shots entitled Paris de Nuit - Brassaï discovered graffiti.

He was fascinated by this phenomenon, which reflects an irresistible and existential need to inscribe one's presence in matter, to immortalise our wounds and our best hopes. In his photographs of - shrunken, deformed and collapsed, wrinkled and cracked - figures, animals and faces, Brassaϊ illustrates the fascinating and magical aspects of these primitive forms of expression. According to him, they successfully question the purpose of mankind, nature and the meaning of life and death while at the same time inviting an encounter with the unknown. 

Publications

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions
2013-15
Brassaï – Pour l’amour de Paris

Hôtel de Ville de Paris, Paris, France; Palazzo Morando, Milan, Italy; Palazzo Ducale, Genoa, Italy

2011
Brassaï – Dubuffet

Galerie Karsten Greve, Paris, France

2011
Brassaï. Paris La Nuit

Museu Oscar Niemeyer, Curitiba, Brazil

2011
Brassaï Brassaï. In the Studio and on the Street

Museum Berggruen, Berlin, Germany

2010-11
Brassaï – Dubuffet

Galerie Karsten Greve, Cologne, Germany

2007-08
graffiti – Brassaï

Circulo de Bellas Artes, Madrid, Spain

2006-07
Brassaï (1899 – 1984)

Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin, Germany

2005
Brassaï

Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Tokyo, Japan

2005
Brassaï's Paris

Boca Raton Museum of Art, Boca Raton, USA

2004-05
Brassaï - The Photographer of the Night

Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebæk, Denmark

2002-03
Brassaï - Das Auge von Paris

Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Germany

2000
Brassaï

Albertina, Vienna, Austria

2000-01
Goya Brassaï

Hayward Gallery, London, UK

1999-00
Brassaï – Retrospective

Ludwig Museum of Contemporary Art, Budapest, Hungary

1998-99
Brassaï - The Eye of Paris

The National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., USA

1994-95
Photographies de Brassaï

Centre Georges Pompidou - Musée National d’Art Moderne, Paris, France

1992-93
Brassaï

Fundación Antoni Tàpies, Barcelona, Spain

1983-84
Brassaï Memorial 1899 - 1984

MoMA – The Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA

1972-73
Brassaï Photographs

The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., USA

1967-68
Brassaï

MoMA – The Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA

1961

Historisches Museum, Frankfurt, Germany

1961

Kunstverein, Hanover, Germany

1960-61

Kunsthalle Baden-Baden, Germany

1959-60

Triennale di Milano, Milan, Italy

1957-58

Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, UK

1955-56
Language of the wall: Parisian Graffiti photographed by Brassaï

selected by Edward Steichen, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA

Group exhibitions
2014
RealSurreal. Meisterwerke der Avantgarde-Fotografie. Das Neue Sehen 1920 - 1950. Sammlung Siegert

Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Germany

2012
Chouette Collection

Zeit-Foto Salon, Tokyo, Japan

2012
Conmigo, yo mismo, yo

Museo Picasso Málaga, Málaga, Spain

2011-12
Good Night

The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel

2011
The Original Copy: Photography of Sculpture. 1839 to today

Kunsthaus Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland

2011
ATLAS. How to Carry the World on One's Back?

ZKM Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie, Karlsruhe, Germany

2011
Street Life. Chronicles of Europe by Seven Photographers

Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Tokyo, Japan

2010-11
Eyes On Paris - Paris Im Fotobuch 1890 bis Heute

Deichtorhallen Hamburg, Germany

2010
Ojos Privados: Selections from the Collection of Laurence Miller

Laurence Miller Gallery, New York, USA

2010
Human Images of 20th Century: All Photographs are Portraits

Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Tokyo, Japan

2009-10
Twilight Visions: Surrealism, Photography, and Paris

International Center of Photography, New York, USA

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