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

Photographs

New York Auction 1 October 2019

  • Provenance

    ABC Press, Amsterdam
    Stephen Daiter Gallery, Chicago
    Charles A. Hartman Fine Art, Portland
    Stephen Bulger Gallery, Toronto

  • 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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World View: Property from a Private Collection

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Henri Cartier-Bresson

Foley's Department Store

circa 1950
Gelatin silver print.
6 1/2 x 9 7/8 in. (16.5 x 25.1 cm)
Magnum credit and 'abc press' agency copyright stamps, and typed caption label on the verso.

Estimate
$6,000 - 8,000 

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Photographs

New York Auction 1 October 2019