Paris

Rudy Burckhardt American, born Switzerland

1934

Not on view

A Swiss-American filmmaker, photographer, and painter, Burckhardt embodied the idea of the flaneur, the passionate spectator of urban life described by French author Charles Baudelaire in the mid-nineteenth century. Like many street photographers of his generation, Burckhardt’s eye gravitated toward popular and commercial signage, which proliferated throughout European and American cities in the early twentieth century. Depicting Parisians reading political posters that implore French youth to join with workers to stave off possible civil war, this photograph provides insight into France’s political tumult in 1930s. Burkhardt later became enmeshed in the New York art world and befriended several artists associated with Abstract Expressionism.

Artwork Details

Overview

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Provenance

Title: Paris
Artist: Rudy Burckhardt (American (born Switzerland), Basel 1914–1999 Searsmont, Maine)
Date: 1934
Medium: Gelatin silver print
Dimensions: Image: 16 x 23.7 cm (6 5/16 x 9 5/16 in.)
18.9 x 24.9 cm (7 7/16 x 9 13/16 in.)
Classification: Photographs
Credit Line: Twentieth-Century Photography Fund, 2009
Object Number: 2009.278
Rights and Reproduction: © 2025 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Curatorial Department: Photographs

More Artwork

By Rudy Burckhardt

In the same medium

From the same time and place

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Times Square, Rudy Burckhardt American, born Switzerland, Gelatin silver print — Times Square
Rudy Burckhardt
ca. 1938, printed later

Flatiron in Summer, Rudy Burckhardt American, born Switzerland, Gelatin silver print — Flatiron in Summer
Rudy Burckhardt
1948, printed 1975

[Building Front, Cellar Hatch, and Siamese Standpipe on Sidewalk, New York City], Rudy Burckhardt American, born Switzerland, Gelatin silver print — [Building Front, Cellar Hatch, and Siamese Standpipe on Sidewalk, New York City]
Rudy Burckhardt
ca. 1939

[Pedestrians, New York City], Rudy Burckhardt American, born Switzerland, Gelatin silver print — [Pedestrians, New York City]
Rudy Burckhardt
ca. 1939

["Eagle" Barber Shop Window, New York City], Rudy Burckhardt American, born Switzerland, Gelatin silver print — ["Eagle" Barber Shop Window, New York City]
Rudy Burckhardt
1938 (?)

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