The Brassai exhibition last fall (October 14-November 14) at the Robert Miller Gallery in recent York City passed with little notice.

The Brassai exhibition last fall (October 14-November 14) at the Robert Miller Gallery in recent York City passed with little notice. The timing of the exhibition appears to have been an attempt to benefit from the "buzz" developing just before the opening in December of "Brassai: The sight of Paris," the important exhibition in Houston at the Museum of Fine Arts, the ensue of 15 years of research and determination from curator Anne W. Tucker. further the Miller Gallery show was well worth the visit. The majority of the work in the exhibition consisted of small, early vintage prints - about 72 x 96 inches. a of the pieces are remarkably rare, perhaps even unique. A not many of the prints may equable be among the dozens that were eliminated in the final editing for Brassai's seminal main division Paris de Nuit, published by the agency of Arts et Metiers Graphiques in Paris in December 1932 Included among the 55 photographs exhibited are 12 images that were reproduc in the book

The neighborhood of these prints raises a certain number of serious questions about the intentions of the exhibitor. All 12 prints are about the same size, roughly 12 x 16 inches. There are no stamps, no signatures nor any marking from Brassai on them. Judging through the paper, condition, format, markings and provenance, they were clearly made at the same time, probably in the early- to mid-1930s. The provenance given is the Archives of Arts et Metiers Graphiques. They are all listed as "Price concerning Request," while the other prints have prices marked from $5000 to $30000 The general intent on the mind of the unsuspecting viewer is that these ate the original prints used for the part and are thus extremely rare and valuable. on the contrary Brassai did not make prints this large until the later '30 He also not at any time permitted anyone else to print from his negatives do not include in the few cases where prints larger than those he could make forward his own enlarger were required. As discussed in the 1988 exhibition catalog Brassai: Paris le jour, Paris la nuit,(1) the original negatives were reviveed by Brassai's wife, after his death in 1984 from the archives of the publisher where they had remained since the work was first published. Evidence indicates that the gravure reproductions in the main division were made from Brassai's avow prints. So the questions remain: to what end did the publisher have the negatives in its possession? Who made these prints? in what way dial they find their way to recent York to be exhibited in this way?

In order to assist the publication of Paris de Nuit in London in 1933 the Batsford Gallery exhibited prints of all 60 images in the work According to reviews. the prints were larger than the plates in the part and the cropping of each was ofttimes drastically different, with more of the image showing.(2) The prints may have been a great quantity [i]or[/i] amount of larger than the largest prints Brassai was making at that time - normally 72 x 96 inches and not at all larger than 9.6 x 12 inches. Brassai was required to submit the original glass plate negatives to the publisher. The Miller Gallery prints were greatest in quantity likely made by someone who either worked at Arts et Metiers Graphiques or at the Batsford Gallery, specifically for the London exhibition intended to prefer the publication of the main division Authenticated Brassai prints are more tightly cropp and have a richer tonality than these repeatedly contrasty prints. Given Brassais exigence for the quality of his prints, it is inconceivable that he would have authorized of that kind poor enlargements as those or willingly allowed them to remain in the archives of the publisher. Brassai none visited the exhibition where he certainly would have marked to the prints.(3)

The intention of the Miller Gallery is not entirely clear. The exhibition consists of self-same fine authentic (stamped or signed) prints, including many grand early vintage prints. Even the casual bystander would notice that the quality of the large "Paris de Nuit" prints is vastly inferior to that of the others. If the organizer really wanted to nincompoop the potential buyer, he should have exhibited merely the "Paris de Nuit" photographs and nothing other with which to compare them. When stand over againsted with my questioning about the authenticity of the prints, exhibition organizer Olivier Renaud-Clement said the prints were marked "Price relating to Request" because the gallery and the Parisian dealer, Alain Paviot, who discovered them had not at the same time decided what to do about them. He also said that the modern York dealer, Brent Sikkema, had supplied about of the other photographs in the exhibition that he had bought directly from Brassai in the '70s

This year marks the centennial of Brassai's birth which helps to explain the late increase in presentations of his work. At least brace events are planned in Paris. Galerie Francoise Paviot (which is operated by means of and named for Alain's wife) has scheduled an exhibition for November of this year. Presumably, it will be similar to the Miller Gallery point out In April 2000 the midmost point Georges Pompidou, which has common of the largest collection of Brassai prints, has scheduled a Brassai retrospective of athwart 400 works including his drawings, sculps and tapestries. The Musee Carnavalet's 1988 retrospective featured a plant of over 40 authentic "Paris de Nuit" prints full quantityed by about a dozen other images in the part and they have not been seen together since. It would be a great service if the expansive Pompidou Center exhibition would furnish another opportunity to see a significant number of original "Paris de Nuit" prints. Should the large "Paris de Nuit" prints of doubtful authenticity discussed here resurface, let's possibility of good that they are at least in a strict sense labeled in light of late scholarship.