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Indepth Arts News:
"Henri Cartier-Bresson: The Modern Century"
2010-07-25 until 2010-10-03
Art Institute of Chicago
Chicago, IL,
USA
The first large-scale retrospective in three decades devoted to Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908-2004)--one of the most original, accomplished, and influential figures in the history of photography--opens at the Art Institute of Chicago on July 25, 2010. Henri Cartier-Bresson: The Modern Century-- on view through October 3, 2010, in the museum's Regenstein Hall--brings together nearly 300 prints, both iconic and lesser known, from Cartier-Bresson's 60-year career, with an emphasis on the years 1932 to 1973. This landmark exhibition explores a fresh understanding of the artist, due in part to the inclusion of many works never seen before, and covers every major era and focus of his long career.
From a young age, Cartier-Bresson was fully immersed in the active cultural life of Paris. Originally trained as a painter by his uncle and then apprenticed with the artist André Lhote, he was also an avid reader who found his way into the back rooms of the Dame Blanche and other Parisian cafés where the poet André Breton and his fellow Surrealists held forth. When he was 24, Cartier-Bresson discovered the Leica--a light, handheld 35mm camera that served as the sketchbook for the private observations he made while discovering himself, ideas, and the world around him. He would later become a master of candid "street" photography who influenced--and continues to influence--generations of photographers that followed.
Cartier-Bresson honed his skills as a photographer in the early 1930s, and his inventive work during this time period helped to define the artistic potential of modern photography. A decade later, after surviving three years as a prisoner of war, Cartier-Bresson emerged from World War II determined to document a world in the midst of profound change. He did so in 1947 by joining Robert Capa and others to found Magnum Photos--an organization that allowed photojournalists to reach broad audiences through such publications as Life and Paris Match while still retaining independence and control over their work. Magnum Photos quickly established itself as a model photo agency that to this day serves as one of the most important "archives" of the significant events of the 20th century. Cartier-Bresson, with his extraordinary ability to capture images of life on the run, was one of its leading photographers, and his portfolio bears witness to his personal credo of capturing "the decisive moment," which is also the title his first major book, published in 1952.
Henri Cartier-Bresson: The Modern Century is organized in distinct, thematic sections. The first two sections are chronological surveys focusing on Cartier-Bresson's independent work of the early 1930s and immediately following World War II. Following this early work is the photographer's treatment of the ancient patterns of life in three parts of the world: the East (India and Indonesia at the time of their independence, including his iconic pictures of Mahatma Gandhi's last days and the aftermath of his death), the West (particularly the Soviet Union, as Cartier-Bresson was the first non-Soviet photographer to gain access to the country after Stalin's death in 1953), and France. Also included here are photographs taken in the United States during the postwar boom, many of which have never been seen before, and during his four-month stay in China in 1958 documenting that country's "Great Leap Forward." Concluding the exhibition are sections organized around such themes as the subject of beauty, street crowds and gatherings around the world, the transformation of Europe as old cultures are confronted with modern realities, and portrait work. The 34 portraits in the exhibition in particular reveal the artist's skill as a keen observer of the human condition and as one of the great portraitists of the 20th century.
Henri Cartier-Bresson: The Modern Century is the first exhibition to draw upon the extraordinary resources and cooperation of the Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson in Paris. The retrospective shows the rich interplay between Cartier-Bresson the artist, gifted at capturing the flux of life, and Cartier-Bresson the photojournalist, whose lens shaped our understanding of seismic political and cultural changes across the second half of the 20th century.
The catalogue accompanying Henri Cartier-Bresson: The Modern Century, published by The Museum of Modern Art, New York, includes duotone reproductions of all of the photographs in the exhibition and a rich variety of supplementary illustrations. Curator Peter Galassi's wide-ranging essay offers both a great deal of new information as well as a comprehensive fresh interpretation of Cartier-Bresson's photography by considering the many different and often conflicting frames of reference that helped to shape it, from avant-garde art of the 1920s and 1930s to the business of photojournalism. The supporting material--including a detailed chronology of the photographer's ceaseless travels, maps of his travel routes, and a thorough list of his picture stories as they appeared in magazines (illustrated by reproductions of dozens of spreads, including several complete stories)--will revolutionize the study and appreciation of Cartier-Bresson's work. Henri Cartier-Bresson: The Modern Century is available for purchase at the Art Institute's Museum Shop.
Following the Art Institute's presentation, Henri Cartier-Bresson: The Modern Century will travel to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (October 30, 2010 through January 30, 2011) and the High Museum of Art in Atlanta (February 19 through May 29, 2011).
Henri Cartier-Bresson: The Modern Century is organized by The Museum of Modern Art in New York (MoMA), and curated by Peter Galassi, The Joel and Anne Ehrenkranz Chief Curator of Photography, Department of Photography at MoMA. The Chicago presentation is curated by Matthew Witkovsky, Chair and Curator of Photography at the Art Institute of Chicago. The Chicago presentation of this exhibition is generously sponsored by Harris Bank. Lead individual funding is generously provided by an anonymous donor.
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