Collection of Heiner and Céline Bastian
Phillips de Pury & Company, New York, 28 April 2005, lot 182
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
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.
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