BRASSAÏ (GYULA HALÁSZ) (1899–1984)

Backstage at the Folies-Bergère, 1932
Gelatin silver print
Lent by David Raymond, New York

Brassaï studied painting in Budapest and Berlin before arriving in Paris in 1924 as a journalist. Although he initially scoffed at photography as “something aside from true art,” he went on to make a name for himself as “the eye of Paris,” capturing its night workers, performers, bohemian artists, and café habitués from a blunt, unsentimental perspective.

The Folies-Bergère, Paris's most famous fin-de-siècle theater, was one of the city’s first major music halls. Founded in 1869, it showcased a variety of productions during its early years, from operetta and pantomime, to vaudeville sketches, ballet, and acrobatic acts. Depicted by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Edouard Manet, the entertainment hall’s reputation for chic sophistication made it the premiere nightspot in Paris. The theater’s reputation changed, however, when the first nude showgirl appeared on stage in 1918. After that, the Folies-Bergère began a new chapter as the home of exotic, spectacular cabaret revues. Here, Brassaï captures a backstage scene from 1932.