Avenue de l'Observatoire dans le Brouillard

Brassaï (Gyula Halasz) (French (born in Hungary), 1899–1984)

about 1934, printed 1950s

Medium/TechniquePhotograph, gelatin silver print

DimensionsSheet: 29.2 x 38.4 cm (11 1/2 x 15 1/8 in.)

Credit LineSophie M. Friedman Fund

Accession number2016.325

On View

Not on view

ClassificationsPhotographs

Collections

ProvenanceBy about 2010/2011, sold by Kim Young Seob Photo Gallery, Seoul, South Korea, to an American private collector; about 2010/2011, sold by this collector to Philip Rivkin, Houston; July, 2012, seized from Philip Rivkin by the United States government in a forfeiture action [see note]; February 18, 2016, consigned by the U.S. government to Christie’s, New York (sale no. 12626, Modern Visions: Exceptional Photographs), lot 146, sold to an American private collector; 2016, consigned anonymously by this collector to Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York; 2016, sold by Howard Greenberg Gallery to the MFA. (Accession Date: June 22, 2016)

NOTE: Philip Rivkin pleaded guilty for his role in a massive biodiesel fraud scheme. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, his photography collection, which was formed around 2010-2011, was bought using the proceeds of the fraud in order to launder the money. The photography collection was seized and sold publicly through Christie’s. The complaint can be found here: https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/usao-nj/legacy/2013/11/29/Green%20Diesel%20Complaint.pdf