Brassaï (Gyula Halász)
Une Vespasienne, Boulevard Auguste Blanqui

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Images(2)

Artist Brassaï (Gyula Halász)French, born Hungary, 1899–1984

CultureFrench

Titles

Une Vespasienne, Boulevard Auguste Blanqui

Date1935

Place depictedParis, France

MediumGelatin silver print

DimensionsImage: 11 7/8 × 9 3/16 in. (30.2 × 23.3 cm)
Sheet: 12 × 9 1/4 in. (30.5 × 23.5 cm)

Credit LineGift of Mike and Mickey Marvins

Object number2013.707

Not on view

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Department

Photography

Special Collections

Marvins Family Collections

Object Type

PHOTOGRAPHS

DescriptionIn the late 1920s, Brassaï’s first project in Paris was to photograph the city at night, capitalizing on the mysterious effects of light on nocturnal life. This street urinal with its advertisement for Byrrh aperitif is silhouetted against a dusting of snow, with the tracks of feet and tires as the only evidence that the city is not entirely asleep. Published in Brassaï’s classic book Paris de Nuit (Paris at Night, 1933), this image is one example of his acute understanding of how Paris’s architecture—from historical buildings to humble urinals—represents the complexities and charm of his adopted city as discovered in his nightly meanderings.
Provenance[Christie's, New York, December 14, 1994, sale 7649, lot 37]; purchased by Michael Marvins and Michele Marvins, Houston, 1994; given to MFAH, 2013.
Exhibition History“A Photographer’s Collection: Gifts from Michael and Michele Marvins,” The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, April 4–July 5, 2015.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks

verso center right in pencil: Pase 55

verso lower right in pencil: Brassaï

verso bottom left a stamp: © COPYRIGHT by / BRASSAI / 81, Faubourg St. Jacques / PARIS 14eme Tel.707.23.41
bottom center two stamps: INTERDICTION DE REPRODUIRE / SANS AUTORISATION DE L'AUTEUR PHOTOGRAPHIE ORIGINALE
lower right a stamp with ink addition: Tirage de l'Auteur N.708

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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