Brassaï in America, 1957

A rare discovery of more than 150 previously unpublished photographs in black and white and in color, from a legendary photographer.?Despite strong personal and professional ties in the U.S.--Henry Miller, Harper''s Bazaar''s Carmel Snow, and Edward Steichen, who featured Brassai''s work in many MoMA exhibitions--Brassai remained reticent about travel to the U.S. until 1957 when Holiday magazine offered generous compensation (and artistic freedom) to photograph New York and Louisiana. From the first symbolic image of this voyage--the Statue of Liberty appearing over the ship''s prow--Brassai came under the spell of America and his photographs innately captured his new perspective. In New York, he was captivated by the graphic skyscrapers and the rhythmic to-ing and fro-ing of the crowds. Unlike his static photographs of Paris--posing prostitutes, embracing lovers, sleeping street people-

Agnes de Gouvion Saint-Cyr, former Inspector-General of photography for the French Ministry of Culture, is a leading authority on photography. Brassai (1899-1984), a major twentieth-century photographer, published Paris by Night in 1933. His career, spanning fifty years, included sculpture, writing, and film. Flammarion has also published Brassai: Graffiti and Brassai: An Illustrated Biography.