Henri Cartier-Bresson - SPOTLIGHT: Photographs from A Private London Collection Online Auction London Friday, July 7, 2023 | Phillips

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  • Arthur Goldsmith was the editor of Popular Photography from 1951 to 1960, and in 1961 became President and Director of the newly founded Famous Photographers School, where his tenure lasted until 1972. The Famous Photographers School helped its students 'achieve professional-level skill' and attracted some of the most successful photographers at the time including Richard Avedon, Philippe Halsman, Bert Stern, Alfred Eisenstaedt and Irving Penn. An ad for the school stated 'If you want success, learn from successful people.'

    • Provenance

      The Estate of Arthur Goldsmith
      Robert Klein Gallery, Boston, 2017

    • Literature

      H. Cartier-Bresson, The Europeans, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1955, pl. 48
      H. Cartier-Bresson, The World of Henri Cartier-Bresson, London: Thames & Hudson, 1968, pl. 77
      Henri Cartier-Bresson: Photographer, London: Thames & Hudson, 1992, pl. 34
      P. Galassi, Henri Cartier-Bresson: The Man, the Image and the World, London: Thames & Hudson, 2003, pl. 95

    • 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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SPOTLIGHT: A PRIVATE LONDON COLLECTION

41

Lot offered with No Reserve

Ascot

1955
Gelatin silver print.
24.7 x 16.6 cm (9 3/4 x 6 1/2 in.)
'HENRI CARTIER-BRESSON-MAGNUM-Photos' credit stamp, annotated ‘Europeans 48’ and reduction notations in unknown hands in ink/pencil on the verso.

Full Cataloguing

Estimate
£4,000 - 6,000 •♠

Sold for £1,397

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Justine Gruser
Specialist, Photographs
jgruser@phillips.com
 

Clare Lamport
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clamport@phillips.com
 

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SPOTLIGHT: Photographs from A Private London Collection Online Auction

7 - 14 July 2023