About this artwork
In this photograph of a parade celebrating the anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party’s founding, a man dressed as Uncle Sam walks down the Bund, a historic waterfront in Shanghai that was home in the 1940s to foreign consulates, trading houses, and banks. He is followed by “servants” wearing dog masks. Henri Cartier-Bresson captured this image while covering decolonization in Asia, traveling with his wife, Ratna Mohini, to India, Pakistan, Indonesia, and China.
While photographing Beijing in 1948, Cartier-Bresson was expelled from the city after its takeover by the People’s Liberation Army. He fled south to Shanghai, where he witnessed the collapse of Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalist government and the city’s embrace of Communist rule.
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Status
- On View, Gallery 10
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Department
- Photography and Media
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Artist
- Henri Cartier-Bresson
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Title
- Masks and Banners in Anti-US Shanghai Parade
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Place
- France (Object made in:)
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Date
- Made 1949
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Medium
- Gelatin silver print
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Dimensions
- Image/paper: 34.1 × 23.2 cm (13 7/16 × 9 3/16 in.)
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Credit Line
- Gift of Richard and Ellen Sandor in honor of John Bryan
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Reference Number
- 2006.624
Extended information about this artwork
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.
