Brassai Gyula Halasz Biography
Brassaï, pseudonym of Gyula Halász (Brașov, 9 September 1899 – Èze, 8 July 1984), was a Hungarian-born French photographer. Braşov is today a city in Romania, but in 1899, when Brassaï was born, the south-eastern region of Transylvania belonged to Hungarian territory. At just three years old Brassaï moved with his family to Paris; his father was a professor of literature at the Sorbonne. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Budapest before enlisting in the cavalry of the Austro-Hungarian army for the duration of the First World War. In 1920 he went to live in Berlin, working as a journalist and resuming his studies at the Academy. In 1924 he moved permanently to Paris. He learned French by reading Proust and Prévert. He became a great friend of the latter and of Henry Miller, frequenting the Montparnasse arrondissement. Once rooted in the bowels of the Parisian territory, his photographic attention towards the city became absolute. He loved Paris at night or in the rain, the villas, the gardens, the Seine and the timeless streets of the ancient neighborhoods. He adopted the pseudonym Brassaï in memory of his homeland (means "from Braşov" - Brasso, in Hungarian). In 1933 he published his first book of photographs, "Paris de nuit", which met with great success, especially in the artistic environment. Henry Miller nicknamed it "the eye of Paris". He also took an interest in high society, intellectuals, theater and opera. He immortalized, among others, Salvador Dalí, Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse and Alberto Giacometti. In 1956 his film Tant qu'il y aura des bêtes won the Special Jury Grand Prix as the most original film at the Cannes Film Festival. He was awarded the title of Knight of Arts and Letters in 1974 and of Knight of the Legion of Honor in 1976. In 1978, he won the International Photography Prize in Paris. He wrote 17 books and numerous articles, including, in 1948, the novel Histoire de Marie, published with an introduction by Henry Miller. Additionally, the University of Chicago edited and translated Letter to My Parents and Conversations with Picasso (1964). He died on 8 July 1984 in Èze, Alpes-Maritimes, and was buried in the Montparnasse cemetery in Paris. In 2000, Gilberte, Brassaï's widow, organized a large commemorative exhibition at the Center Pompidou in Paris.
