From 23 February to 2 June Palazzo Reale presents the exhibition “Brassaï. The eye of Paris”, promoted by the Municipality of Milan – Culture and produced by Palazzo Reale and Silvana Editoriale, created in collaboration with the Estate Brassaï Succession.

The retrospective is curated by Philippe Ribeyrolles, a scholar and nephew of the photographer who holds an invaluable collection of prints by Brassaï and extensive documentation relating to his work as an artist. The exhibition will present more than 200 vintage prints, as well as sculptures, documents and objects belonging to the photographer, for an in-depth and unprecedented look at Brassaï's work, with particular attention to the famous images dedicated to the French capital and his life.

His photographs dedicated to the life of the City of Light - from the working class neighborhoods to the great symbolic monuments, from fashion to portraits of artist friends, up to graffiti and nightlife - are today iconic images that immediately identify the face of Paris in the collective imagination. Hungarian by birth - his real name is Gyula Halász, replaced by the pseudonym Brassaï in honor of Brassó, his hometown -, but Parisian by adoption, Brassaï was one of the protagonists of 20th century photography, defined by his friend Henry Miller “the living eye” of photography.

In close relationship with artists such as Picasso, Dalí and Matisse, and close to the surrealist movement, starting from 1924 he participated in the great cultural ferment that hit Paris in those years. Brassaï was among the first photographers, able to capture the nocturnal atmosphere of Paris at the time and its people: workers, prostitutes, homeless people, artists, solitary wanderers. In his walks, the photographer did not limit himself to the representation of landscapes or architectural views, but also ventured into more intimate and confined interior spaces, where society met and enjoyed themselves.