Brassaï (born Gyula Halász, 1899–1984) arrived in Paris in 1923, where he began taking photographs with the support of André Kertész. Brassaï quickly became the city’s keen-eyed observer and a prominent figure in Parisian artistic circles. In 1932, Picasso asked the photographer to take pictures of his sculptures. Picasso was delighted with the photos, and their professional relationship deepened into a friendship. On one occasion, when Picasso visited Brassaï’s apartment, the photographer’s old drawings came to light, and the painter challenged him: “You were born to be a drawer… Why don’t you continue on this path? You traded your gold mine for a salt mine.” From then on, at every meeting, he encouraged Brassaï to take up drawing again and even helped him organize his first exhibition.

Brassaï’s words aptly capture both the intimate atmosphere of his photographs of Picasso’s sculptures, studio, and the artist himself, as well as the mood of his book Conversations with Picasso: “You can only photograph people up close. I suppose the same goes for writing about them.”