Milan pays tribute to the great photographer Gyla Halasz, AKA Brassaï.
“The eye of Paris” is the title of the exhibition inspired by the definition that Henry Valentine Miller, the renowned American author, gave to the Hungarian photographer.
Brassaï used his camera to explore cities, scenes of daily life and above all Parisian society. Approximately 200 photographs and numerous documents will fill the halls of Palazzo Reale from 23 February to 2 June 2024, offering the opportunity to examine and learn about daily life in Paris at the beginning of the Twentieth Century.
Known for his night scenes, Brassaï immortalised intellectuals and artists such as Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí and Henri Matisse, but his fame originated from the new concept of the city, a new Ville Lumièr that, through the eyes of the Hungarian master naturalised as a French citizen, was transformed into a foggy city, where the Seine almost disappeared and night life was removed from the sparkling artifice to return to reality, in the form of an elegant precursor to street photography.
Brassaï turned the night into an extremely material concept that lent increased volume to his subjects through the sharp contrast between light and shadow.
“I invent nothing, I imagine everything. Most of the time, I have created my images from the daily life that surrounds me. I believe that by capturing reality in the most humble and sincere way, in the most ordinary manner possible, one can enter the extraordinary”. Brassaï.
Opening image: Brassaï, Soiré du Haute couture, Paris, 1935. © Estate Brassaï Succession-Philippe Ribeyrolles