Brassaï met Picasso in 1932, when the Surrealist publication ‘Le Minotaure’ produced a ‘Picasso issue’ and commissioned Brassaï to photograph the artist and his work. Brassaï had caught the eye of the Surrealists but was relatively unknown in wider circles; it was a year prior to the publication of his first book, ‘Paris by Night’, which would establish his reputation as a serious photographer. Brassaï enjoyed an intimate relationship with Picasso over the next forty years, continuing to photograph him and his sculpture. Picasso appreciated Brassaï’s photographs and used them to assess his own work from a different perspective, whereas Brassaï valued the access and inspiration provided by Picasso. Brassaï meticulously recorded their meetings, only revealing his detailed documentation after thirty years. A compilation of transcriptions from these notes, ‘Conversations with Picasso’, was published in 1960 at Picasso’s own suggestion.

This photograph shows a cast made by Picasso in 1937 of his right hand. Brassaï had already seen a plaster cast version of it in Picasso’s studio in the 1930s but was not able to photograph it until 1943, by which time it had been cast in bronze.