Brothel, Rue Quincampoix, Paris ca. 1932, Brassaï

Artwork Overview

Brassaï, Brothel, Rue Quincampoix, Paris ca. 1932
Brassaï, Brothel, Rue Quincampoix, Paris ca. 1932
Brassaï
Brothel, Rue Quincampoix, Paris ca. 1932
1978
Brassaï, artist
1899–1984
Brothel, Rue Quincampoix, Paris ca. 1932, 1978
Where object was made: France
Material/technique: gelatin silver print
Dimensions:
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 38.5 x 27.5 cm
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 15 3/16 x 10 13/16 in
Mat Dimensions (Height x Width): 25 x 20 in
Credit line: Museum purchase
Accession number: 1980.0045
Not on display
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Images

Label texts

Exhibition Label:
"xy," Jun-2009, Kris Ercums
The photograph Brothel, Rue Quincampoix, Paris is filled with dualities: male and female, dress and nakedness, viewer and viewed. As a patron in a brothel, the man controls the encounter and the woman is accessible to him, visually as well as sexually. Despite the shared space of the two figures, each is separate, alone, isolated. This isolation, each with his or her back to the photographer and each other, is heightened by the horizontal division created by the mirrored wardrobe. While the encounter feels spontaneous, the staging required by the photographer to carefully position each figure and himself speaks to the artificiality of the photograph itself as well as the artificial intimacy spun in the brief encounter between the man and the woman.
Abbey Flores, Curatorial Intern in Photography

Exhibitions

Photographs from the Collection 1840-1940
John Pultz, curator
2003–2004
xy
Kris Ercums, curator
2009
The Body and the Lens: Photography 1839 to the Present
John Pultz, curator
1995
The Body and the Lens: Photography 1839 to the Present
John Pultz, curator
1997
The Body and the Lens: Photography 1839 to the Present
John Pultz, curator
1998
The Body and the Lens: Photography 1839 to the Present
John Pultz, curator
1998–1999
The Body and the Lens: Photography 1839 to the Present
John Pultz, curator
1999
Brosseau Center for Learning: Beyond Discourse: Critical and Empirical Approaches to Human Trafficking
2019

Resources

Audio

Didactic – Art Minute
Didactic – Art Minute
Episode 196 Jul-2009, revised Sep-2009, Abby Flores I’m David Cateforis with another Art Minute from the Spencer Museum of Art. Brassaï, a Hungarian-born French photographer, created the black and white photograph "Brothel, Rue Quincampoix, Paris" around 1932. It shows a clothed male client, viewed from behind as he fastens his shirt or tie before a double-mirrored wardrobe, and, reflected in the lefthand mirror, the backside of a naked female prostitute starting to dress. The image is filled with dualities: male and female, dress and nakedness, viewer and viewed. As the patron, the man controls the encounter; the woman is accessible to him, visually as well as sexually. Despite the shared space of the two figures, each is separate, alone, isolated, their isolation heightened by the vertical division of the wardrobe’s two mirrors. While the encounter feels spontaneous, Brassai’s implied presence and the evident staging of this complex composition speak to the artificiality of the photograph as well as that of the brief interaction between the man and woman. With thanks to Abby Flores for her text, from the Spencer Museum of Art, I’m David Cateforis.