Chris Beetles Art Gallery

Bill Brandt is regarded as one of the great paragons of British photography. His singular eye gave him a unique take on the quintessence of Britishness, and he formed an archive of images that are as socially powerful as they are visually poetic.

Brandt was in fact German, born in Hamburg in 1904, but spent much of his life in denial of his origins. He arrived in London in 1931, and so taken was he by England and its way of life that he began to insist he had been born in South London – this started a lifelong metamorphosis into a stereotypical English gentleman. However, before embarking on this personal journey, Brandt had been fortunate enough to study under Man Ray in Paris, where he absorbed the aesthetics of Surrealism – a training that would forever colour his photographs with the marvellous tint of European modernism.

Brandt was a regular presence in the great photographic magazines of the time, particularly Picture Post and Lilliput, but also published numerous books including The English at Home (1936), A Night in London (1938), Literary Britain (1951) and Perspective of Nudes (1961). Often reduced to stark blacks and whites, his images can be as formally powerful as the subject matter they depict – and often retain the humour, even satire, of an outsider looking in.

Brandt is known for documenting Britain and its people – the rich and poor, the celebrated artist and the unknown miner – but also for his idiosyncratic nude studies that obsessed him from 1951. Our show will focus on these two great facets of Brandt’s work, and aims to firmly reinforce his position in the canon of great twentieth-century photographers.

Our exhibition will be the largest selling show of Brandt’s work to have been staged in the UK.

A fully illustrated 80 page catalogue, with an evaluative essay, chronology and bibliography is available from the gallery at £10 + p&p (£2 UK, £2.50 Europe, £5 Rest of the world).

For further details on each picture, please click on the images or their titles


FLOWER SELLER IN HAMPSTEAD, 1931-1935	EPSOM RACES, 1933	RAINSWEPT ROOFS, 1930S

DOMINO PLAYERS, NORTH LONDON PUB, 1935	PARLOURMAID PREPARING A BATH, 1936	TIC-TAC MEN AT ASCOT RACES, 1935

AN EPSOM BOOKMAKER, DERBY DAY, 1933	SUNDAY EVENING, 1936	NUDE, CAMPDEN HILL, LONDON, MAY 1949

EVENING IN KEW GARDENS, 1932-1935	PICCADILLY CIRCUS, 1934	LAMPLIGHTER, KENSINGTON, CIRCA 1930

AFTER THE CELEBRATION, LONDON, 1934	ETON SPRAWLS, JUNE 1933	HATTER'S WINDOW, BOND STREET, 1931-1935

A BILLINGSGATE PORTER, CIRCA 1934	BATTERSEA BRIDGE, 1930S	HOUSEWIFE, BETHNAL GREEN, 1937

POLICEMAN IN A BERMONDSEY ALLEY, 1938	GRAND UNION CANAL, PADDINGTON, CIRCA 1938	A LYONS NIPPY (MISS HIBBOTT), 1939

AT 'CHARLIE BROWN'S', LIMEHOUSE, 1945	STREET SCENE, 1936	MISTY EVENING IN SHEFFIELD, 1937

HALIFAX, 1937	A SNICKET IN HALIFAX, 1937	EAST DURHAM, CIRCA 1937

NORTHUMBRIAN MINER AT HIS EVENING MEAL, 1937	RMS QUEEN ELIZABETH, CIRCA 1946	GULL'S NEST, LATE ON MIDSUMMER NIGHT, ISLE OF SKYE, 1947

NUDE, MICHELDEVER, HAMPSHIRE, NOVEMBER 1948	NUDE, BELGRAVIA, LONDON, 1951	NUDE, HAMPSTEAD, LONDON, SEPTEMBER 1952

NUDE, LONDON, JULY 1953	NUDE, BELGRAVIA, LONDON, FEBRUARY 1953	NUDE, CAMPDEN HILL, JANUARY 1956

NUDE, LONDON, JUNE 1954	NUDE, LONDON, JUNE 1958	NUDE, TAXO D'AVAL, FRANCE, SEPTEMBER 1957

NUDE, EAST SUSSEX COAST, APRIL 1953	NUDE, VASTERIVAL, NORMANDY, MAY 1957	NUDE, BAIE DES ANGES, FRANCE, OCTOBER 1959

NUDE, LONDON, CIRCA 1958	NUDE, LONDON, 1958	NUDE, EAST SUSSEX COAST, APRIL 1957

NUDE, EAST SUSSEX COAST, JUNE 1958	NUDE, LONDON, 1959	NUDE, EAST SUSSEX COAST, 1959

NUDE, BAIE DES ANGES, FRANCE, OCTOBER 1959	NUDE, BAIE DES ANGES, FRANCE, OCTOBER 1959	NUDE, EAST SUSSEX COAST, AUGUST 1960

NUDE, EAST SUSSEX COAST, JULY 1977

BILL BRANDT