Trieste, Italy

Photography and Media

1930, printed 1930/39

Henri Cartier-Bresson
French, 1908–2004

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.

Status: Currently Off View
Department: Photography and Media

Artist: Henri Cartier-Bresson
Title: Trieste, Italy
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 1930
Medium: Gelatin silver print
Inscriptions: Unmarked recto; inscribed verso, upper right, in black ink: "40"; stamped verso, center, in black ink: "JULIEN LEVY GALLERY / 602 MADISON AVENUE / NEW YORK CITY"; signed verso, lower center, in black ink: "Henri Cartier-Bresson"; verso, lower right, in graphite: "[?]"; verso, lower center, in graphite: "6" [encircled]
Dimensions: Image/paper: 22.3 × 29.6 cm (8 13/16 × 11 11/16 in.)
Credit Line: Julien Levy Collection, Special Photography Acquisition Fund
Reference Number: 1979.67

Art Institute of Chicago, “Photographs from the Julien Levy Collection: Starting with Atget,” December 11, 1976–February 20, 1977; traveled to the International Center of Photography, New York, April 21-May 29, 1977; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, November 4-December 18 1977; Fogg Museum, Cambridge, Massachusetts, January 13-Ferbruary 26, 1978; Lakeview Center for the Arts and Sciences, Peoria, Illinois, March 16-April 30, 1978; and Cincinnati Art Museum, November 17-December 24, 1978. (David Travis)
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. (Colin Westerbeck)
Art Institute of Chicago, “Hot Streaks,” February 21–May 2, 2004. (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.
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.

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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.

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