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Córdoba, Spain

A work made of gelatin silver print.

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  • A work made of gelatin silver print.

Date:

1933

Artist:

Henri Cartier-Bresson
French, 1908–2004

About this artwork

A defining figure of photographic modernism, Henri Cartier-Bresson used a handheld camera to snatch beguiling images from fleeting moments of everyday life. In his 1952 book, The Decisive Moment, he explained, “I prowled the streets all day, feeling very strung-up and ready to pounce, determined to ‘trap’ life—to preserve life in the act of living.” Cartier-Bresson was connected to Surrealist circles in Paris in the 1930s, and his early photographs reinvent street life as Surrealist theater—more surprising and mysterious than the world we know. In Córdoba, Spain, he chanced upon a woman in front of a corset advertisement. In a rhyming juxtaposition, the older woman mimics the thinner, younger figure on the wall with an unconscious gesturing of her hands and a squint into the sunlight that echoes the blocked-out eyes of the painted woman: a collage of art and everyday life.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Photography and Media

Artist

Henri Cartier-Bresson

Title

Córdoba, Spain

Place

France (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Made 1933

Medium

Gelatin silver print

Dimensions

Image: 25 × 16.6 cm (9 7/8 × 6 9/16 in.); Paper: 25.3 × 20.2 cm (10 × 8 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of A.N.P. Artwork Holdings, L.L.C.

Reference Number

2013.1239

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.

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