Henri Cartier-Bresson - Photographs New York Tuesday, October 1, 2019 | Phillips
  • Provenance

    Galerie Beyeler, Basel

  • Literature

    Cartier-Bresson, The World of Henri Cartier-Bresson, pl. 114
    Cartier-Bresson, Henri Cartier-Bresson: À Propos de Paris, pl. 104
    Chéroux, Henri Cartier-Bresson: Here and Now, pl. 289
    Galassi, Henri Cartier-Bresson: The Modern Century, p. 54
    Thames & Hudson, Henri Cartier-Bresson: The Image and The World, pl. 212
    Thames & Hudson, Henri Cartier-Bresson: Photographer, pl. 10

  • Artist Biography

    Henri Cartier-Bresson

    French • 1908 - 2004

    Candidly capturing fleeting moments of beauty among the seemingly ordinary happenings of daily life, Henri Cartier-Bresson's work is intuitive and observational. Initially influenced by the Surrealists' "aimless walks of discovery," he began shooting on his Leica while traveling through Europe in 1932, revealing the hidden drama and idiosyncrasy in the everyday and mundane. The hand-held Leica allowed him ease of movement while attracting minimal notice as he wandered in foreign lands, taking images that matched his bohemian spontaneity with his painterly sense of composition.

    Cartier-Bresson did not plan or arrange his photographs. His practice was to release the shutter at the moment his instincts told him the scene before him was in perfect balance. This he later famously titled "the decisive moment" — a concept that would influence photographers throughout the twentieth century. 

    View More Works

31

Alberto Giacometti, rue d'Alésia, Paris

1961
Gelatin silver print, printed later.
14 x 9 1/2 in. (35.6 x 24.1 cm)
Signed in ink and copyright credit blindstamp in the margin.

Estimate
$8,000 - 12,000 

Sold for $9,375

Contact Specialist

Sarah Krueger
Head of Department, Photographs

Vanessa Hallett
Worldwide Head of Photographs and Deputy Chairwoman, Americas

General Enquiries
+1 212 940 1245

Photographs

New York Auction 1 October 2019