
Conversations with Picasso
Gilberte Brassai(Author)
University of Chicago Press
2nd Edition
Published on 15. December 1999
Book
Hardback
400 pages
978-0-226-07148-0 (ISBN)
Description
Since the early days of his career, Brassai has been a guide to avant-garde Paris. Not only was Brassai a noted photographer - nicknamed "the eye of Paris" by Henry Miller - he was also a prolific author and journalist whose "Letters to My Parents" was named "a small classic in the history of the medium" by Jed Perl in the "New Republic". In that book, as well as many others, Brassai described the many important artists and writers with whom he developed close personal and professional relationships. Not the least among these was Picasso. Brassai recorded his many meetings and appointments with the great Spanish artist from 1943 to 1946, resulting in this book. While the two artists shared the same milieu in the 1930s, it wasn't until the 1940s that they saw each other on a regular basis, when Brassai was asked to photograph Picasso's works. Brassai's recollections of these visits offer an intimate portrait of one of the greatest artists of the 20th century: a Picasso who described Cezanne as his "one and only master"; a Picasso who throws a tantrum because he lost a flashlight; a Picasso who remained in Paris during the German Occupation.
At the same time, these conversations are not only about Picasso. They also treat everyone who comes into his life, the artistic and intellectual debates of the time, and the events of World War II.
At the same time, these conversations are not only about Picasso. They also treat everyone who comes into his life, the artistic and intellectual debates of the time, and the events of World War II.
Reviews / Votes
"An astonishing document.... Brassai pitches his static, finished portraits of the master and friends into circumstantial, colloquial settings, a method that plunges the reader into the straitened, but vibrant, milieu of Picasso in Paris under Nazi Occupation....Brassai broke through the barrier between documentary and art." - James Malpas, Art Newspaper "Memorable and charming.... Brassai knew Picasso would be part of history, and he captures a slice of that history, intelligently and poetically, as it is being made." - San Diego Union-Tribune "Read this book if you want to understand me." - Pablo PicassoMore details
Edition
2nd ed.
Language
English
Place of publication
Chicago
United States
Publishing group
The University of Chicago Press
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
53 halftones
Dimensions
Height: 236 mm
Width: 161 mm
Weight
910 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-226-07148-0 (9780226071480)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Brassai (born Gyula Halasz, 1899-1984) was a photographer, journalist, and author of photographic monographs and literary works, including Brassai: Letters to My Parents and Proust in the Power of Photography, both published by the University of Chicago Press. Jane Marie Todd is a translator whose books include Largesse by Jean Starobinski and Women's Words by Mona Ozouf, both published by the University of Chicago Press.
Content
Preface, by Henry Miller (1966) Introduction, by Pierre Daix Conversations with Picasso Postscript Notes Photographs Index ??