Distorted Eros In the Art of British Photographer Bill Brandt

Bill Brandt (1904-1983), a photographer of German-British origin, was one of the most peculiar artists, at least because he manifested himself both as a documentarist and avant-gardist. His famous "distorted nudes," which he started producing after 1945, show us the beauty of disproportions. The nu photographers can usually be compared to ancient sculptors, who aimed to create an ideal image of the human body, while Brandt can be seen rather as a surrealist. The reality of the human flesh is transformed here into an abstract, dreamy hallucination stemming from fashionable psychoanalysis and the times of paleolithic Venuses.

Fig. 1. Self-Portrait (moma.org)

Fig. 2. Joan Miro (mutualart.com)

Fig. 3. Corner Table at Charlie Brown's Pub, 1945 (facebook.com)

Fig. 4. Early Morning on the Thames, London, 1939 (artic.edu)

Fig. 5. Evening in West Wycombe Park, Buckinghamshire, 1943 (invaluable.com)

Fig. 6. Francis Bacon, Primrose Hill, London (versicherungskammer-kulturstiftung.de)

Fig. 7. Rene Magritte with his painting "The Great War", Brussels (bonhams.com)

Fig. 8. Frost Morning In the Park, Chiswick House Gardens, 1944 (facebook.com)

Fig. 9. London Shelters, 1940 (iwm.org.uk)

Fig. 10. East End girl dancing the Lambeth Walk, 1939 (facebook.com)

Fig. 11. Ezra Pound by Bill Brandt (photoshelter.com)

Hans Castorp From South London

Bill Brandt was born in Hamburg to a British father and a German mother. With his childhood falling on WWI and the maturity –– on WWII, the artist later rejected his German roots and claimed he was born in London. In 1919, Brandt contracted tuberculosis and had to spend a long time in a sanatorium in Davos. Let's mention, that this detail of his biography corresponds to one of the most famous books of the time, The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann (1924). Hans Castorp, the main character of the novel, spends seven years in the tuberculosis sanatorium, metaphorically presented as an analog of the legendary Venusberg, the mountain of Venus, where minstrel Tannhäuser also spent seven years. The sanatorium patients are captured not by Eros but by Thanatos, though they sincerely love their disease. Just like Hans, Brandt was keen on psychoanalysis and even traveled to Vienna to take a course of treatment. The difference between a fictional character and a real artist lies in their descent from these 'twin peaks'. While the First World War took Hans Castorp by surprise like the other patients, Bill Brandt didn't lose touch with the real world. In 1930, he made an acquaintance with Ezra Pound and was introduced by him to Man Ray. Three years later, he moved to London and photographed different classes of society, fully embracing life with its numerous contrasts.

Fig. 12. She Sells Seashells on the Seashore, 1930s (michaelhoppengallery.com)

Fig. 13. Nude, 1940s (vintagepics.centerblog.net)

Fig. 14. Nude, 1949 (invaluable.com)

Fig. 15. Hampstead, London (ngv.vic.gov.au)

Fig. 16. Campden Hill [With Umbrella], London, 1978 (seagravegallery.com)

In the extended Premium more about Brandt's war years, why in his opinion the camera is much more than a recording apparatus, 64 additional pics, and much more...!

Click HERE for the monochrome and overpainted nudes of the fashion photographer Saul Leiter

Sources: Wikipedia.org; billbrandt.com; artsy.net