Marige
Brassai was a psudonym of the Hungrian Gyula Halász, a journalist, artist, writer, filmmaker and photographer who lived and worked in Paris from about 1930. Most of the images for which he is best known are from the early thirties, many from his first published collection, "Paris de Nuit". This one is dated 1933, and is one of my favourites. It is from a series of images of "La Mome Bijou" (copyright Estate Brassai / BnF). I love the powerful combination of dignity and decadence this fabulous looking woman exudes.
Brassai's images of night-time Paris between the wars are among my all-time favourite photographic works. If you don't know them, give yourself a treat and do some Googling or visit a good bookshop.
And don't spare the pearls or the red lipstick!
posted by MargieCM at 10:25 pm
33 Comments:
I want to be her! me me me!!!!! She's gorgeous, and definitely a Marige! Oh Margie, the name suits you too. He he. I'm proud to be the inspiration for your grown up self..You've got some growing to do yet, though, my girl! I can see from your profile pic you've already started training for the top spot in dignified dissipation...I love it...and you too! If this is what my typos do, I'll keep diong ti...lol
More seriously, what a superb photo! I think I'll do just that and go look at some of Br...thingy's other work (hmmm, have to check you post again), but as for the link you left me on your sight, Margarita is the most stunning case of fading vulgarity I've seen in a long time...she's not a drag queen is she, by any chance hmm? No sisters named Edna?? Anyway, I loved that too. Precious it is!
Googled Brassai for images. Breathtaking. No other word for his photos of lamplit streets. I am enriched. xxx Thank you!
Thats a fabulous picture, i love Brassai's work, I have one pride of place on my sitting room wall, It's the 'les escaliers De montemartre paris 1930'...
I love the decadence feel and beauty of it all too..
Glad you like her too Vally! I've a couple of books of Brassai's photographs with I pinched from my dad years ago, and she features in several portraits.
Gypsy, I know that photo - it's pure magic. I might have guessed you were a fan. That's another one for you to Google Val.
Oh, and no, the amazing Margarita Pracatan is not a drag act, although she is certainly a gay icon. I first saw her when Clive James gave her a show-closing residency in one of his chat show series. Just Margarita, a very ordinary electric keyboard with a pre-programmed boom-chicka-chicka thing going on, a heavy Cuban accent and a lot of feathers and oomph.
I suspect she didn't have much English in those days, because she seemed to have learnt all her songs by ear, and the words she remembered were somehow never quite right. I actually have a CD of hers; "Live at the Palladium" (Edinburgh). More Googling homework for you, or better still, catch her on YouTube.
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Margarita%20pracatan&search=Search
Has to be seen to be believed.
Margie,
She reminds me of an elderly lady called 'Dolly' who used to drink at my parents pub. In her heyday she must have been a real glamourpuss and one of those 'worldy' Fitzroy types. Even in her 80's she would come down to the pub dressed to the nines (her fasion sense never left the 1930's but to me she always looked fabulous.
Dolly was a cheeky old dame, She used to tell me stories about Squizzy Taylor and some of the other notorieties around fitzroy.
When she was in her 70's she even got barred from the Rose by the previous licencees for 'snogging' another customer (in his 80's) at the bar!
Neans
oh,
and speaking of Margarita Pracatan,one of my good friends in Glasgow was quite a fan of hers.......if we were in the pub and she was on the other side of the busy bar....she would call out in a glaswegian cuban accent(if you can imagine what that sounds like!) ....Margarita....and to let her know where we were we'd reply....Pracatan!
Neans
Haha Neans! I am dead jealous of your experience of colourful characters. Love the sound of Dolly. Squizzy Taylor, eh? She did keep some company. I'm quite a fan of the decayed glamour look, and you don't see it around much now. It's all botox, tit-lifts and orange tans. No style! All good pubs should have a resident Dolly.
Glaswegian Cuban sounds good to me. I played the CD in the car last week. Suprisingly (or not), Mads really got into it. Funniest trip in years.
PRRRACATAAAAAN!
Hahaha MaRige! I've just been watching MarGarita Pracatan on YouTube..Priceless! I love the Clive James clip where she's singing New York New York with Lisa Minelli there. Actually, she's not vulgar (or vlugar as I just wrote)...she's rather adorable!
Great photo, she makes me think of a grand lady commanding her surroundings. So that is you eh?
Not yet, Grace, but I'm working on it!
Margie, what is a souvlaki?
Could get myself into trouble with this one Grace, as there are many versions and Melboune's large Greek community is justifiably proud of its traditions, but this is my favourite:
Souvlaki, or souvlakia, is a Greek wrap made on a hotplate. Pita bread (round, unleavened bread with an air pocket in the middle) is lightly browned with a little olive oil. Into it you wrap seared (medium rare) lamb pieces which have been marinated in extra-virgin olive oil, garlic, lemon juice and oregano. You add lettuce, tomato, onion (I like mine cooked on the hotplate rather than raw), and some tzatziki - garlic yoghurt and cucumber sauce / dip. Absolutely brilliant.
Sometime it's made with Gyros, or spiced lamb carved from a spit. This is great too. You can also get chicken souvlaki, but this is an unworthy modern bastardisation in my humble op.
It's easy to do at home on the barbecue too. YUMMMMMM.
Shouldn't drool and write at the same time. I live in Melbourne, not Melboune.
oh, that sounds delicious! I will remember that one. Thanks.
Ah Margie,
So you're a Souvlaki fan too? I also prefer cooked onions on mine (even if you have to pay 50 cents extra at some places)
My friends call me a wuss because I prefer a souvlaki with just lemon juice and no garlic sauce. I think the flavour of the lamb is enhanced better without it!(and it doesnt drip as much towards the end)
The best Souvlaki joint in my neck of the woods is Lambs Souvlaki in high Street Northcote. My friends cousin works there so often he'll make extra special ones for us. The souvlaki King on Brunswick St Fitzroy is also pretty good!
You know in South Australia they call them Gyros?(he he those south australians just like to be different I think)
Neans
HI Neans - I've seen "Souvlaki with Gyros" written outside cafes, and I've assumed the Gyros is the spit-type lamb. Could be wrong.
The lemon juice idea sounds good, but I just love that yoghurt sauce. I'll admit though it is a challenge to eat the souvlaki without ending up with a garlic sauce bath. Inconvenient if you're kicking on somewhere.
I still haven't found a really good souvlaki place over our way. It's all very nice and leafy here, but Camberwell and environs just can't cut the mustard on the souv front. There's always something not quite right: the lamb's not marinated properly, or they don't grill the the pita bread, they use commercially-made tzatziki or they shove in fourteen shredded lettuces to compensate for any or all of the above.
I still love Lygon Street for tradition, and I've had some great ones in Brunswick and Fitzroy, but in this direction any further out than Richmond and you're asking for trouble.
Thanks for stopping by to say hello and check in on me. I am still chugging along. I am sure I will get the hang of hanging in there someday!!! (Thanks Pete) Anyway, I am well and I hope you are too.
Hi Margie! I've seen you on Val's blog & wanted to stop by & say hello.
And so.... Hello! Your blog is very entertaining!
Please feel free to stop over my blog & say hello if you wish.
Regards, Ed
Hi Margie
I've just been and taken some pics of the trad sailing boats while walking the pooch (nothing like a bit of multi-tasking!), so I'll just leave my vid to stew for a day or two and then I'll put them up! Soon soon ! xx
Sorry for not checking here sooner! Been very lazy I dare say. This is a bloody fantastic photo. I especially love the position, the finesse of how her hands are, one on the chest and one grasping lightly the edge of the table. And the pinkies!
I will definitely go and google more about this photographer.
Lovely to see you here Meg. I will make sure I check in with you more often. You're one tough cookie, and that's a great thing.
Hi Bonfire Jones! Nice to see you too! I popped over to yours quickly just now to leave a message, but you have a few blogs running and I wasn't sure which one to post on for a quick hello. Will have to check properly when I have a bit more time. They all looked really interesting.
Val - wonderful, thank you! I'm insanely busy at the moment, so if I don't get over there as quickly as I'd like please forgive me. Something special for me to look forward to - it's really sweet of you, and I can't wait to show Colin. He will drool.
Maria - I can't see you as lazy at all. I know you've been doing wonderful work with your Method sittings (and as soon as I have an hour or so I'm off to start work on my first now that it's open to the masses - very exciting), and I've really been enjoying your comments on Pete's Memoirs blog. I'm always happy to see your name on any blog, and you're so very welcome here.
I'm glad you like the photo. I'd be interested to hear how you like his other work. It's full of beautiful details such as those you picked up. I also love his use of the black and white medium, his superb sense of composition and the gorgeous light that comes through his photographs.
Now I have to stop blathering and answer some dull committee emails. I'd rather be exploring here.
Hi Margie,
Just coming back about those Sibelius tracks:
They are Op. 75, Five piano pieces. The pieces are each a "homage" to a different tree. I don't know any recordings but here is where I downloaded them:
Op. 75 Five Piano Pieces
There were a few more Sibelius pieces on the site I found:
Classiccat
It's amazing that Madeleine had the opportunity to perform - with the rest of her orchestra - Sibelius' 1st! It must be a fantastic experience for her!
Thanks mc..harveys fine now, he had a virus with a horrid rash..all clear now..
A gyro-giro here is a beer check for the unemployed..;0)...
Why do the nothern men wear underpants in the bath?..
...because they don't want to look down on the unemployed..heh!!..
Sailing ships are up! But don't worry, no hurry, they'll be there when you and Colin are ready.
Lol Gypsy, I thought that was the Pope who did that in the bath!
Lol val..the pope wears y-fronts with little crosses on..he looks down on the unwashed..heh!..
From Sibelius to the Pope's underpants - a natural progression. Gypsy and Val, you are wicked women and will get your comeuppance, but not from me!
You're right, Maria, Mads is very lucky. She's worked hard over the years, but the rewards have been huge. This orchestra is a university-based one, so with most of the players being older than she is she's kept on her toes. This is not the one she went to Europe with in January - that's a string chamber orchestra, again with mostly uni-aged players. (Don't ever listen to anyone who tells you classically-trained musicians are dull. I've seen the party photos from that tour, and I now know the best nightclubs in Krakow, Rome and Athens. There were also a few things I learnt that I was glad not to have known before she was safely home!)
The pleasure she gets from performing great pieces of music with talented young musicians is wonderful to see. I love coming home with her after a performance; she's on such a high, and as she also likes talking about the pieces, I learn a lot. Mind you, she teaches me a lot about contemporary music too, as does the lovely James, her boyfriend of ten months and a brilliant jazz improv pianist - another classically-trained musician who knows how to stretch out.
Thanks so much for the links and the Opus number. That looks like a really good site, and I shall have fun exploring it. As always, you are a fabulous source of information!
How very special to have such a musically gifted daughter, Margie. It must be terrific to experience and witness the enjoyment she gains for performing, and the sense of unity she must feel with her fellow musicians must be incredible.
I think I would also have loved going to concerts where a daughter of mine was playing. Sadly, although both my girls love music and enjoy playing for fun, neither of them has ever had the talent or the drive to study music seriously. Of course, they have other interests, passions and hobbies, so it's also a question of choice, and it's their choice after all. I can well imagine how much you enjoy sharing this with Mads though.
Hi Margie
I don't have too much time this morning so I can't respond to comments left on my blog yet, but I just wanted to say how pleased I am that Colin had a pleasant evening's dreaming of boats and barges.
When I read your comment I was going to suggest that he read my WW blog to get a dose of reality, but what did I find? Margie had already been there and thought of that! Haha, perhaps I should sell it as a 'must read' for anyone who thinks that living on a barge is romantic, and is considering buying one. It'll either put them off completely or they'll be sold - as I was even after my spell as a glow-in- the- dark chipmunk!
Thank you for the lovely responses, Margie. I get so much pleasure from just reading your posts and comments. Your writing is wonderful and I firmly believe there's a very successful and acclaimed book in just you waiting to be written.
Ooh!! punishment cometh!!..
Val, many many thanks for your generous comments. I hope you're right about the book, but it will have to wait a little while yet I'm afraid. Too much on plate, and I'm obsessive enough to want to lock myself up for a while to attempt the feat. Meanwhile, I play.
Gypsy - haha - you know you want it!
Must galvanise self to put up a new post soon. For now, though, duty calls ...
Hi Margie,
Piping in late as per my usual not so latent French tardy gene, but what a beautiful photo. I'm running off to school in a few, but I will check Br...thingy as Val put him after I come home today. The lady in your photo looks grand indeed- I wish sometimes we were back in the days of more formal dress. Casual is fine but sometimes I wish we weren't so casual all the time. My parents' generation sure was elegant, always putting on their best for a Saturday night.
Souvlaki is mmmm. My mum made it often when we were little, and we have our own vegeterian version now, with eggplant instead of meat.
Okay Margie, the second part of Chapter 10 is up !
xx
I'm going to try that veggie souv idea Anne-Marie. It sounds fantastic!
I agree with you that the passing of times when people dressed up a bit are to be mourned. My mother used to say that we had all become "lazy dressers"; slipping on a pair of tracksuit pants, runners and a fleecy top to go to the supermarket rather than taking the time to put something better together. She always had a personal style of classic, understated elegance. I'm not often in that league, but I've never worn tracky dacks to the supermarket, either! Jeans and shirt, yes, but for me, runners (joggers/trainers) are for exercising and nothing else. How utterly sophisticated I am! (If only that was all it took ...)
I rather like the idea of a weekend in a large country house where one dresses for dinner. Mind you, I think finding my aged self sitting in a bar in Paris with a large drink and a few pearls is far more likely. I've started collecting the rings, anyway.
Val, thank you! I have now been, read and enjoyed. Had to have a lie down after reading about all that manual labour. Whew! Better now.
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