Henri Cartier-BressonFrench, 1908–2004Spain
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Art Institute of Chicago
Chicago, United States
It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.
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- The museum
About the work
Henri Cartier-Bresson became known for “the decisive moment,” an instantaneous composition of a scene, for which the photographer must act quickly and intuitively. As a photojournalist for Magnum Photos, the agency he founded with his colleagues Robert Capa and David “Chim” Seymour, he traveled across the world, photographing some of the most important events of the 20th century. Early in his career, he developed a distinct style of photography and made some of his most famous and enduring images.
Art Institute of ChicagoCC BY 4.0
Particulars
- Accession number
- 1979.63
In the catalog
Sources
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Image: Art Institute of Chicago — © the artist or rights holder
Meanwhile, in the life of Henri Cartier-Bresson
The whole life1930–1932
Escape to Africa: Côte d’Ivoire
After reading Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness” in the army he decided to escape and seek adventure in Côte d’Ivoire; he lived by shooting game and selling it to villagers, and later carried methods learned hunting into his photography. Only seven photographs survived the tropics, although he had taken a portable camera smaller than a Brownie.
1930–1932
Blackwater fever and instructions for his own funeral
In Côte d’Ivoire he contracted blackwater fever, which nearly killed him; still feverish, he sent his grandfather instructions for his own funeral — in Normandy, at the edge of the Eawy Forest, with Debussy’s String Quartet played.
1931–1932
Munkácsi’s photograph, a Leica and the choice of photography
Recovering in Marseille, he saw Martin Munkácsi’s photograph “Three Boys at Lake Tanganyika” and “suddenly understood that a photograph could fix eternity in an instant”; he gave up painting and bought a Leica with a 50 mm lens, darkening its shiny parts to stay unnoticed.
1933
First exhibitions: New York and Madrid
In 1933 his photographs were first exhibited at the Julien Levy Gallery in New York and then at the Ateneo Club in Madrid.
1934
He meets Chim, and through him Capa
In 1934 he met the young Polish intellectual and photographer David Szymin, known as “Chim” (later David Seymour), and through him the Hungarian photographer Endré Friedmann, the future Robert Capa; he would later found Magnum with them.
1934
In Mexico, a shared show with Álvarez Bravo
In 1934 in Mexico he shared an exhibition with Manuel Álvarez Bravo at the Palacio de Bellas Artes.
