Gyula Halasz, (Brassai) was born in Brasso, Transylvania in Romania, on September 9, 1899. When he was 4 years old he moved to France with his family and lived there until he was about 18 years old. In 1917 he joined the Austro-Hungarian Army. By 1919 Brassai realized that he wanted to be an artist, so he attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Budapest where he studied drawing. By his mid-twenties he realized that he wanted to live in Paris. Being bilingual in Hungarian and German he wanted to master the French language also. Brassai became a writer for a Hungarian sports paper and a German magazine. Within 2 years Brassai met his later-to-be mentor, Andre Kertesz. In 1932, Gyula Halasz adopted the pseudonym, Brassai, which means literally 'of Brasso' (his native town)With his new Voigtlander Camera Brassai decides to capture the world, from this point on Brassai completely devoted himself to photography.Brassai enjoyed photographing the Parisian streets mostly at night, when he could capture the lives of prostitutes, gays, lesbians and those who gathered in pubs and brothels. Brassai's alternative form of art would later lead him to take interest in graffiti on the walls of Paris. May famous artists such as, Pablo Picasso, Henri Miller and Georges Braque, collected Brassai's Graffiti. Further down the road, the editor-in-chief of Harper's Bazaar, asks Brassai to be a regular contributor to the publication, with absolute freedom to chose his own subjects. Brassai's association with Harper's Bazaar lasted some twenty-five years, right into the sixties. In addition to the magazine, Brassai would jot down his conversations and experiences with many of his friends, he would later publish a book called "Conversations avec Picasso" with a text illustrated with some fifty photographs. Brassai constructed over twenty-five books in his lifetime, in addition to writing and providing photographd for many publications. Shortly after completing his last book, Brassai dies on July 7, 1984 in Beauliesur-Mer in the Mediterranean. Brassai was buried in Montparnasse, in the heart of Paris.
GYULA HALASZ BRASSAI
Feb 25 2006, 17:50
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