Bill Brandt: Portraits

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His later work was more experimental, and he drew heavily on his interest in surrealism art, and the influence of Man Ray’s work in the 1920s. Brandt had his first solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1969. His work has since been the subject of major retrospectives in both the UK and abroad.

The extreme social contrast, during those years before the war, was, visually, very inspiring for me. I started by photographing in London, the West End, the suburbs, the slums.'In this article, we will aim to provide an introduction to Brandt’s work, with particular emphasis on his photography style and working methods. Prints of the catalogue numbers 1 to 92 were made under the photographer’s supervision especially for the exhibition. The following vintage prints date from the time when the photographs were taken. Bill Brandt is regarded as one of the most important photographers of the 20th century. He is best known for his surrealist influenced nudes and his photos of London during the Blitz.

Bill Brandt: Nudes 1945–1980. Introduction by Michael Hiley. London and Bedford: G. Fraser/Boston: New York Graphic Society, 1980. ISBN 9780860920519/ISBN 9780821210970. Perspective of Nudes. Preface by Lawrence Durrell, introduction by Chapman Mortimer. London: The Bodley Head/New York: Amphoto, 1961.

Bill Brandt leaves picture-perfect legacy - and it's on show Art Basel Hong Kong

Brandt’s portraiture developed in the 1940s, often commissioned by publications such as Lilliput, Picture Post and Harper’s Bazaar, and frequently depicted leading artists, writers and figures from the worlds of film and theatre. Pablo Picasso at ‘La Californie’, 1955 1955 (Tate P15009) is among Brandt’s best-known portraits. One of a series of portraits taken at Picasso’s villa ‘La Californie’ on the Côte d’Azur in the south of France, it was commissioned by Harper’s Bazaar. Georges Braque on the Beach at Varengeville, Normandy, 1955 1955 (Tate P15018) depicts the artist at the age of seventy-three. Braque is one of several sitters who Brandt photographed twice, with up to several decades between. Brandt had first shot Braque at the age of fifty-four in 1936. When Brandt collected his portraits into a book in 1982, he included seven people whom he had photographed at different stages of their lives, including Braque. Louise Nevelson’s Eye, 1963 1963 (Tate P14998) is a close-up image of the eye of American artist Louise Nevelson (1899–1988). Brandt made ten similar photographs in the early 1960s; each is the closely cropped eye of a notable artist. While some appear to have been made during the same session as a published portrait, none are thought to be enlargements from a known work.