Kiki de Montparnasse avec ses amies Thérèse et Lily (devenue Mme. Dubuffet, la femme du peintre). Kiki est au fond, Lily au milieu

Brassaï

ca. 1932, printed late 1970s · Gelatin silver print · Photographs

Brassaï initially resisted using photography as a mode of artistic expression, but set aside painting when he "realized that photography was truly an art of our time and the best way of capturing all the fleeting impressions which excited me." Prowling Paris by night, he documented the glamorous city’s underbelly—its pimps, prostitutes, and thieves—and frequented cafés favored by upcoming writers, painters, and their muses, including the three models pictured here. In the foreground is Kiki de Montparnasse, who posed for many of the most famous artists of the period.

Artist

Brassaï

Date

ca. 1932, printed late 1970s

Medium

Gelatin silver print

Department

Photographs

Credit line

Warner Communications Inc. Purchase Fund, 1980