Brassaï (Gyula Halász)
Cat with Phosphorescent Eyes

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

CultureFrench

Titles

Cat with Phosphorescent Eyes

Date1936

PlaceFrance

MediumGelatin silver print

DimensionsImage: 11 7/16 × 8 1/4 in. (29 × 21 cm)
Sheet: 11 7/16 × 8 1/4 in. (29 × 21 cm)

Credit LineMuseum purchase funded by Alice C. Simkins in memory of William Stewart Simkins

Object number98.8

Not on view

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Department

Photography

Object Type

PHOTOGRAPHS

DescriptionBrassaï began photographing Paris at night in the late 1920s, capturing the city’s streets and citizens under cover of darkness. Capitalizing on the mysterious effects of light on the city’s clandestine nocturnal life, Brassaï photographed Paris as it transitioned from gas to electric light. This furry creature of the night, its eyes glowing like lamps in the dark, is one of many cats photographed by Brassaï, and was featured on the cover of the catalogue for his 1963 solo exhibition at the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris.
ProvenanceGilberte Brassaï; purchased by MFAH, 1998.
Exhibition History"The Cat's Meow", The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, August 19, 2006-January 15, 2007.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks

Xerox of the back of the object is on file in Registration.

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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