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Henri Cartier-Bresson

French • 1908-2004

Biography

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.

Insights

Henri Cartier-Bresson made steps towards consolidating photo-journalism as an art form when he co-founded Magnum Photo in Paris in 1947, along with Robert Capa, David "Chim" Seymour, George Rodger, William Vandivert, Rita Vandivert and Maria Eisner.
His work is in multiple museum collections across the globe. Four museums, including the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, acquired the 'Master Collection' of his work — 385 prints chosen in 1979 by Henri Cartier-Bresson.
Posthumous retrospectives of his work have taken place at both the MoMA (2010) and the Centre Pompidou (2014).

"To me, photography is the simultaneous recognition, in a fraction of a second, of the significance of an event as well as of a precise organization of forms which give that event its proper expression."

Past Lots

318
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Brussels
Estimate $5,000 - 7,000
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355
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Behind the Gare Saint-Lazare, Paris
Estimate $12,000 - 18,000
Sold for $13,970
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356
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Rue Mouffetard, Paris
Estimate $18,000 - 25,000
Sold for $22,860
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357
Henri Cartier-Bresson
On the Banks of the Marne, France
Estimate $6,000 - 8,000
Sold for $6,350
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358
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Istanbul, Turkey
Estimate $7,000 - 9,000
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359
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Srinagar, Kashmir
Estimate $8,000 - 12,000
Sold for $13,970
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360
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Ahmedabad, India
Estimate $8,000 - 12,000
Sold for $8,890
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361
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Seville, Spain
Estimate $25,000 - 35,000
Sold for $25,400
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362
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Alicante, Spain
Estimate $6,000 - 8,000
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363
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Baie de Somme
Estimate $4,000 - 6,000
Sold for $5,715
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113
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Long Distance Haul, Raleigh, North Carolina
Estimate $6,000 - 8,000
Sold for $7,620
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1
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Rue Mouffetard, Paris
Estimate €20,000 - 30,000
Sold for €21,590
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2
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Derrière la Gare Saint-Lazare, Paris
Estimate €15,000 - 25,000
Sold for €19,050
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21
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Autoportrait, Paris
Estimate €6,000 - 8,000
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4
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Dimanche sur les Bords de la Marne, Paris
Estimate €8,000 - 12,000
Sold for €8,890
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5
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Île de la Cité, Paris
Estimate €8,000 - 12,000
Sold for €13,970
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9
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Quais, Paris
Estimate €12,000 - 18,000
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106
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Gardens of the Palais Royal, Paris
Estimate £6,000 - 8,000
Sold for £6,350
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107
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Gestapo informer recognized by a woman she had denounced, Transit Camp, Dessau, Germany
Estimate £7,000 - 9,000
Sold for £7,620
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64
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Martine's Legs
Estimate £8,000 - 12,000
Sold for £12,065
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65
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Leonor Fini, Italy
Estimate £7,000 - 9,000
Sold for £10,160
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59
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Rue Mouffetard, Paris
Estimate $15,000 - 25,000
Sold for $35,560
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60
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Queen Charlotte's Ball, London
Estimate $10,000 - 15,000
Sold for $33,020
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61
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Gardens of the Palais Royal, Paris
Estimate $6,000 - 8,000
Sold for $11,430
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