The four Brassai photographs offered here and in lots 65, 66 and 68, all originate from the private collection of Madame Brassai, the photographer's widow, and were acquired from Edwynn Houk Gallery in 1993. Each captures often-taboo scenes of Parisian nightlife, a subject Brassai joyfully immersed himself in via 'trickery and diplomacy' throughout the 1930s, after emigrating there from his native Hungary in 1924.
Provenance
Private Collection of Madame Brassaï, Paris Houk Friedman Gallery, New York, 1993
Literature
Thames & Hudson, Brassaï: The Secret Paris of the 30's, n.p.
At Le Monocle, Boulevard Edgar-Quinet, Montparnass
circa 1932 Gelatin silver print, probably printed 1950s or 1960s. 8 1/2 in. (21.6 cm) Signed in ink, two '81, Rue du Faubourg St-Jacques' copyright credit stamps, and notations in unidentified hands in ink on the reverse.
