Henri Cartier-Bresson - Photographs New York Tuesday, April 4, 2023 | Phillips
  • Provenance

    Acquired directly from the artist

  • Literature

    Cartier-Bresson, The Europeans, p. 64
    Galassi, Henri Cartier-Bresson: The Early Work, p. 133
    Galassi, Henri Cartier-Bresson: The Modern Century, p. 99
    Montier, Henri Cartier-Bresson and the Artless Art, pl. 21
    Bulfinch Press, On the Art of Fixing A Shadow: 150 Years of Photography, pl. 250

  • 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. 

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155

Alicante, Spain

1933
Gelatin silver print, printed later.
9 3/8 x 14 in. (23.8 x 35.6 cm)
Inscribed 'a Susan with greate (sic) Thanks to have promoted These 3 neighbours of mine in 1932, très amicalement, Henri' in ink and copyright credit blindstamp in the margin.

Estimate
$7,000 - 9,000 

Contact Specialist

Sarah Krueger
Head of Department, Photographs
skrueger@phillips.com


Vanessa Hallett
Worldwide Head of Photographs and Chairwoman, Americas
vhallett@phillips.com

Photographs

New York Auction 4 April 2023