"Bijou" of Montmartre
Brassaï (Gyula Halász)
French, born Brassó. 1899–1984
1932
A gelatin silver photograph by Brassaï that transforms a chance sighting in a Montmartre café into a composed portrait of urban flamboyance, focusing on a jewel‑adorned figure.
You’re immediately held by the subject’s steady, direct gaze and theatrical presence—the soft cloche and fur, hands laden with pearls and rings, a cigarette and glass on the table—which makes the small café interior feel intimate and stage‑like.
Part of Brassaï’s nocturnal Paris work, this image helped foreground the city’s hidden social life and influenced modern street and documentary photography by treating ordinary, marginal figures as compelling, expressive subjects.
Medium
Gelatin silver print
Dimensions
11 3/4 × 9 1/16" (29.8 × 23.1 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
David H. McAlpin Fund
Accession
2529.1967
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
