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Portrait of a Young Girl, Eaton Place, 1939, and Soho Bedroom, 1932 by Bill Brandt

Artwork by Bill Brandt, Portrait of a Young Girl, Eaton Place, 1939, and Soho Bedroom, 1932

Bill Brandt
Portrait of a Young Girl, Eaton Place, 1939, and Soho Bedroom, 1932

two gelatin silver prints mounted on card
each signed on the mount lower right; each printed in 1955
13.5 x 11.5 in ( 34.3 x 29.2 cm ) ( each image )

Auction Estimate: $7,000.00$5,000.00 - $7,000.00

Price Realized $4,800.00
Sale date: March 25th 2025

Provenance:
Sotheby’s, auction, New York, 8 October 1997, lot 335
Estate of Robert Noakes
Bill Brandt experimented with photography of the nude in the 1930s and early 1940s before making a breakthrough when he started using a wide-angle camera, a 1931 Kodak used by police officers at crime scenes. He described: “Instead of photographing what I saw, I photographed what the camera was seeing. I interfered very little and the lens produced anatomical images and shapes which my eyes had never observed.” These works reveal Brandt’s familiarity with the École de Paris, especially the works of Man Ray, Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Hans Arp and Henry Moore.

The following two works explore Brandt’s fascination with light and shade, the abstract and the sensual. His camera also captures not only the rooms inhabited by his models but also their bodily presence. “Portrait of a Young Girl, Eaton Place, London” exemplifies that tension: the girl face’s appears almost sculptural while the shadow of her visible eye is juxtaposed with the brightness coming through the windows in the background. “Soho Bedroom” instead presents a couple embracing by a bed as the soft glow of a table lamp illuminates the scene at right.

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Bill Brandt
(1904-1983)

HighlightsWatch Artist

Bill Brandt was a British photographer and photojournalist widely regarded as one of the most important British photographers of the twentieth century. Born in Germany, Brandt moved to England after World War I, where he became known for his striking images of British society, featured in magazines like Lilliput and Picture Post. His later work explored distorted nudes, portraits of prominent artists, and evocative landscapes, often characterized by dramatic contrasts and unique perspectives.

Brandt's early life was marked by hardship, including contracting tuberculosis, which led to extended stays in a Swiss sanatorium. He later distanced himself from his German heritage, claiming to have been born in South London. Over his career, Brandt's work evolved into a defining visual language that captured the nuances of British life and culture.
Major exhibitions of Brandt’s work have been held at prestigious institutions, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York (1969), the National Portrait Gallery in London (1982), and Tate Britain (2022). His legacy is celebrated through numerous retrospectives and his posthumous induction into the International Photography Hall of Fame in 1984. Brandt’s iconic photographs continue to influence photographers today, shaping the landscape of modern photography.