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Swimmer

A work made of gelatin silver print.

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  • A work made of gelatin silver print.

Date:

1930

Artist:

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

About this artwork

Upon moving to Paris in 1924, and drawing inspiration from fellow Hungarian photographer and emigrant André Kertész, Brassaï took to the streets of the city in search of authenticity. He possessed an “infatuation with outcasts,” as he phrased it, and documented the characters of the city’s evening underworld, including prostitutes, transvestites, and mobsters; he published a selection of these images as the book Paris de Nuit (Paris by Night) in 1933. Brassaï also made pictures in the light of day. He might have taken this photograph while vacationing in the coastal French town, Loctudy, near Brittany. In a letter to his parents dated September 18, 1931, he mentions spending time there with a young woman named Jeannine. Though the exact subject of this work is unknown, it is possibly her contorted body, awkwardly mimicking the movement of a swimmer, that Brassaï emphasized and rendered as a sculptural figure in this photograph.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Photography and Media

Artist

Brassaï, (Gyula Halász)

Title

Swimmer

Place

France (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Made 1930

Medium

Gelatin silver print

Dimensions

Image/paper: 16.3 × 23.6 cm (6 7/16 × 9 5/16 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Nicholas and Susan Pritzker

Reference Number

2012.721

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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