Henri Cartier-Bresson became known for “the decisive moment,” an instantaneous composition of a scene, for which the photographer must act quickly and intuitively. As a photojournalist for Magnum Photos, the agency he founded with his colleagues Robert Capa and David “Chim” Seymour, he traveled across the world, photographing some of the most important events of the 20th century. Early in his career, he developed a distinct style of photography and made some of his most famous and enduring images.
Date
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Unmarked recto; inscribed verso, upper center, in blue ink "Paris"; verso, center, in blue ink "Henri Cartier-Bresson, c/o Julien Levy Gallery, 602 Madison Avenue, New York City, USA"
Bottom, in pencil "355.1977"
Dimensions
Image/paper: 23.1 × 16.1 cm (9 1/8 × 6 3/8 in.)
Credit Line
Julien Levy Collection, Gift of Jean and Julien Levy
Reference Number
1978.1058
Extended information about this artwork
Westerbeck, Colin and Joel Meyerowitz. 1994. “Bystander: A History of Street Photography.” Bulfinch Press/Little, Brown and Company. p. 164, fig. 8.5.
Travis, David. 2005. “Paris: Photographs from a Time that Was.” Art Institute of Chicago/Yale University Press. p. 63.
Cheroux, Clement. 2013. “Henri Cartier-Bresson.” Exh. cat. Centre National d’Art et de Culture Georges Pompidou. p. 155, cat. 108.
Art Institute of Chicago, “Bystander: A History of Street Photography,” December 10, 1994-April 16, 1995; traveled to the San Jose Museum of Art, January 16-April 4, 1999 (Chicago only). (Colin Westerbeck)
Art Institute of Chicago, “Brassai and Company,” January 24-May 17, 1998. (David Travis)
Paris, France, Henri Cartier-Bresson Foundation, “Documentary and Anti-Graphic Photography: Henri Cartier-Bresson, Walker Evans and Manuel Alvarez-Bravo,” September 7–December 22, 2004; traveled to Switzerland, Musee de L’Elysee, February 10–April 10, 2005.
Art Institute of Chicago, “Paris: Photographs from a Time that Was,” August 13–November 6, 2005. (David Travis)
Art Institute of Chicago, “Henri Cartier-Bresson and the Art and Photography of Paris,” September 20, 2008–January 4, 2009. (David Travis)
New York, New York, Museum of Modern Art, “Henri Cartier-Bresson: The Modern Century,” April 11–June 28, 2010; traveled to the Art Institute of Chicago, July 24–October 3, 2010; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, October 30, 2010–January 30, 2011; High Museum of Art, Atlanta, February 19–May 15, 2011.
Madrid, Spain, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, “Encounters with the 1930s,” October 2, 2012-January 7, 2013.
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