The late photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson spent his long and varied career traveling the world and capturing images of everyone from children to cultural icons.
Beautiful but unsentimental street photography of children was one of the surprises offered by the sweeping survey “The World of Henri Cartier-Bresson,” at Peter Fetterman Gallery, in Santa Monica, California, in 2021. Some of the images are iconic, like Cartier-Bresson’s historic 1950s photographs for Life magazine of a newly Communist China and his portraits of cultural lions like Henri Matisse, Alberto Giacometti and Samuel Beckett. But nearly half the images, Fetterman said, were printed specifically at the gallery’s request and had not been widely exhibited or published.
One of the most striking discoveries was a 1954 image of five Russian girls standing in second position at a wrought-iron-and-wood ballet barre. The coolly elegant blond girl closest to the camera looks no more than 10 or 12 years old, but her calf muscles are as defined as those of an adult track star. “Rue Mouffetard, Paris,” from 1954, captures a boy grinning from ear to ear as he walks along a city street toward the lens — and presumably toward home — carrying with chin jutted out and visible pride a wine bottle under each arm. This picture, in which all elements conspire to highlight the boy’s swagger (notice the girls noticing the boy), is an illustration of capturing “the decisive moment,” which Cartier-Bresson famously defined and which modernists took as the ultimate goal of photography, although others later were more skeptical.
Born in 1908 in Chanteloup-en-Brie, France, the oldest of five children, Cartier-Bresson studied art and literature in school, refusing to join his father’s prosperous textile business. In 1931, he traveled to Africa to hunt wild game and found that he preferred a different kind of shoot: taking pictures with a small box camera.
On his return to France, Cartier-Bresson bought a Leica with a 50mm lens — the camera he called the “extension of my eye” and used for decades. He soon began working as a photojournalist, traveling the globe to capture everyday moments as well as some of the defining political events of the 20th century, from Gandhi’s funeral in 1948 and the fall of the Kuomintang in China in 1949 to the student uprising in Paris in 1968.
Cartier-Bresson was himself caught up in conflict. A French army officer during World War II, he was detained as a prisoner of war by the Nazis, prompting rumors he’d been killed. His photography was taken seriously enough at this time that the Museum of Modern Art in New York began preparing what it believed would be a posthumous retrospective of his work. The show took place in 1947, when the photographer was abundantly alive and well, and busy cofounding the great photo agency Magnum. MoMA has been a guardian and champion of his work ever since.
Find original Henri Cartier-Bresson black-and-white photography on 1stDibs.
Jacques Tati and Alain Becourt - Photograph by Henri Cartier-Bresson - 1958
By Henri Cartier-Bresson
Located in Roma, IT
Vintage b/w photograph realized by Henri Cartier-Bresson in 1958. Copyright: Magnum Photos and Agenzia Contrasto. Excellent condition.
Photographic Paper
Henri Cartier-Bresson, Rome, Italy, Black and White Print, Signed, c. 1990
By Henri Cartier-Bresson
Located in London, GB
Signed Silver gelatin print, printed circa 1990 Image 17 1/2 x 11 1/2 inches Paper 20 x 15 3/4 inches Henri Cartier-Bresson is perhaps the most significant photographer of the twent...
Silver Gelatin
Aquila Degli Abruzzi, Italy
By Henri Cartier-Bresson
Located in Santa Monica, CA
Signed in ink on recto Gelatin silver print Image: 14 x 9 1/2 inches, Paper: 15 7/8 x 12 inches, Mat: 20 x 16
Silver Gelatin
Meudon
By Henri Cartier-Bresson
Located in Roma, RM
Henri Cartier Bresson (Chanteloup-en-Brie 1908 - Céreste 2004), Meudon (1964) later printed Silver gelatin print, image 24 x 36 cm, sheet 30 x 40 cm, dedication and signature at lo...
Photographic Film, Silver Gelatin
$3,817
Les Européens Photographies - Photographs by Henri Cartier-Bresson - 1955
By Henri Cartier-Bresson
Located in Roma, IT
Volume including a selection of 114 black and white photographs by Henri Cartier-Bresson from 1950 to 1955. Original boards illustrated after a design by Joan Mirò. First Edition. Ve...
Paper
Marilyn Monroe
By Henri Cartier-Bresson
Located in Santa Monica, CA
Signed in ink on recto
Silver Gelatin
$6,864Sale Price|20% Off
Henri Cartier-Bresson -- Barrio Chino, Barcelona
By Henri Cartier-Bresson
Located in BRUCE, ACT
Henri Cartier-Bresson Barrio Chino, Barcelona, 1933 This example was printed later Signed in ink lower right Edition 65/75 in lower left Image: 35.7 x 23.6 cm Sheet: 56 x 37.8 cm ...
Photogravure
Price Upon Request
On the Banks of the Marne
By Henri Cartier-Bresson
Located in New York, NY
Signed by the photographer
Silver Gelatin
Henri Matisse at His Home, 'le Reve', Vence, France
By Henri Cartier-Bresson
Located in London, GB
Stamped with photographer's copyright ink stamp on reverse
Silver Gelatin
Price Upon Request
Siphnos, Greece
By Henri Cartier-Bresson
Located in Santa Monica, CA
signed by artist in ink with artist's embossed stamp on recto
Silver Gelatin
Quiet Music, Serene Water Scene
By Roman Loranc
Located in Carmel, CA
Framed in museum high quality clear arcylic and wood frame. Excellent condition. Edition 3/25 Purchased directly from Loranc. Stunning printing.
Silver Gelatin
Joan and Quintana Roo (Frame 27a.)
By Julian Wasser
Located in New York, NY
Listing includes free shipping for unframed prints and a 14 day return policy. Joan Didion by Julian Wasser 20 x 16 inch gelatin silver print Edition 3 of 15 Signed on verso by Julian Wasser *Please inquire for international shipments. Quotes will be provided at cost via FedEx. Description - Julian Wasser started his career in photography in the Washington DC bureau of the Associated Press where he met and accompanied the famous news photographer Weegee – who would become a lasting influence on him. In the mid-60s Wasser moved to Los Angeles as a contract photographer for TIME, LIFE, and FORTUNE magazines and becoming internationally known as the go to guy for getting candid but memorably composed photographs. (His iconic images of Jack Nicholson and Anjelica Huston; Marcel Duchamp and Eve Babitz; and a young Jodie Foster are already classics.) In 1968 TIME Magazine assigned Wasser to go to the home of the young writer Joan Didion whose book Slouching Towards Bethlehem was becoming a literary sensation. “I’d read her fiction,” said Wasser. “and she didn’t miss a thing. She was such a heavyweight person.” Wasser shot Didion at her rented house on Franklin Avenue in Hollywood, where she lived with her husband, the writer John Gregory Dunne, and their daughter, Quintana Roo. “It was a nice, cozy house,” Wasser remembers. “And she was a very easy person to talk to...
Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin
Slim Aarons 'Kings of Hollywood'
By Slim Aarons
Located in New York, NY
Film stars (left to right) Clark Gable (1901 - 1960), Van Heflin (1910 - 1971), Gary Cooper (1901 - 1961) and James Stewart (1908 - 1997) enjoy a joke at a New Year's cocktail party ...
Silver Gelatin
Cranston Richie
By Ralph Eugene Meatyard
Located in New York, NY
From a portfolio of ten gelatin silver prints from original Meatyard negatives (1959-71) Printed April 1974 Edition of 130 Credit stamp, verso 7 x 7 inches, image 15 x 12 inches, mount This photograph is offered by ClampArt, located in New York City. “This image probably owes some of its inspiration to the abnormal characters in the stories of Flannery O’Connor’s 1955 collection, "A Good Man is Hard to Find." But Meatyard was also looking at Giorgio de Chirico and the European Surrealists and here employs their penchant for the lifeless mannequin figure. A headless dressmaker’s dummy...
Silver Gelatin
$1,169Sale Price|58% Off
H 9 in W 6 in D 1 in
Horse, Ink on Paper by Indian Modern Artist Sunil Das "In Stock"
By Sunil Das
Located in Kolkata, West Bengal
Sunil Das - Horse - 9 x 6 inches ( unframed size ) Ink on Paper, 2012 Inclusive of shipment in ready to hang condition. Sunil Das ( 1939-2015) was a Master Modern Indian Artist fr...
Paper, Ink
$2,500
H 40 in W 40 in
White Andalusian Horse - Limited Edition Oversize Silver Gelatin Print
By Baldur Tryggvason
Located in London, GB
'White Andalusian Horse' by Baldur Tryggvason A beautiful close up image of a white Andalusian horse dramatically silhouetted against a black backgro...
Silver Gelatin
$900Sale Price|50% Off
H 11 in W 14 in D 0.2 in
Dancer Steven-Jan Hoff photographed nude for After Dark magazine
By Jack Mitchell
Located in Senoia, GA
Dancer Steven-Jan Hoff photographed nude for After Dark magazine, 1972. Vintage silver gelatin exhibition photograph made by Jack Mitchell. American photographer Jack Mitchell (192...
Silver Gelatin
Mother with Sons, 3rd Ward, Houston, TX
By Earlie Hudnall Jr.
Located in Denton, TX
Signed, titled, dated and print type in pencil on print verso Vintage gelatin silver print Earlie Hudnall, who is one of the most notable African American photographers living today, has extensively documented the African American neighborhoods in Houston, Texas. After serving as a Marine in Vietnam, he enrolled at Texas Southern University, where he studied art under the direction of John Biggers, who became a great friend and mentor. During his time at TSU, he was hired to be a photographer for the Model Cities Program, part of Lyndon Johnson...
Silver Gelatin
$4,533
H 18.12 in W 14.97 in
Prévert de Profil Silver Gelatin Print, Surrealist, Framed, Circa 1955
Located in CANNES, FR
JACQUES PRÉVERT ( 1900- 1977 ) " Prévert de profil " French Poet original vintage argentic photography . circa 1955 . Signed and dated . " with li...
Silver Gelatin
$3,000
H 12 in W 9 in
Alain Ramie's Picasso Catalogue of the Edited Ceramic Works 1947-1971
By Pablo Picasso
Located in Miami, FL
Picasso: Catalogue of the Edited Ceramic Works, 1947–1971 Published in Paris in 1988, this comprehensive volume is the definitive catalogue raisonné of Pablo Picasso’s ceramic editi...
Paper
$1,950
H 22.5 in W 25.25 in D 1 in
Chalk Games, 1950 Silver Gelatin Print, Signed, 20th Century
By Arthur Leipzig
Located in Greenwich, CT
Framed “Chalk Games, 1950” Silver Gelatin Print photograph by Arthur Leipzig (1918-2014) signed in margin l.r. , stamped on verso Leipzig specialized in street photography and was ce...
Silver Gelatin
$1,350
H 24 in W 24 in D 0.1 in
"Liquid Assets" Photography 24" x 24" inch Edition 1/15 by Olha Stepanian
By Olha Stepanian
Located in Culver City, CA
"Liquid Assets" Photography 24" x 24" inch Edition 1/15 by Olha Stepanian Printed on Epson Professional Paper Signed and numbered by the artist Comes with COA issued by the arti...
Photographic Paper
Swimmers
By Henri Cartier-Bresson
Located in New York, NY
This photogravure was taken by the famous Henri Cartier-Bresson. He is long considered one of the greatest photographers of people and done in such a way that his images speak over ...
Photogravure
Roman Amphitheater, Valencia, Spain
By Henri Cartier-Bresson
Located in New York, NY
Signed in ink in the margin, includes black frame with white mat. Henri Cartier-Bresson intuitively chronicled decisive moments of human life around the world with poetic documentar...
Silver Gelatin
HENRI MATISSE, VENCE, FRANCE
By Henri Cartier-Bresson
Located in Aventura, FL
Gelatin silver print. Printed circa 1970s. Signed in ink and copyright credit blindstamp in the margin. Sheet size 11.75 x 17.625 inches. Image size approx 9.5 x 14 inches. Frame siz...
Paper, Silver Gelatin
Sold
H 14 in W 9.5 in
Bougival, Yvelines, France, 1956 - Henri Cartier-Bresson (Black and White)
By Henri Cartier-Bresson
Located in London, GB
Bougival, Yvelines, France, 1956 - Henri Cartier-Bresson (Black and White) Signed and stamped with the photographer's blind stamp Silver gelatin print, printed 1980s 11 x 14 inches ...
Silver Gelatin
Sold
H 14 in W 9.5 in
Tarascon, France, 1959 - Henri Cartier-Bresson (Black and White Photography)
By Henri Cartier-Bresson
Located in London, GB
Tarascon, France, 1959 - Henri Cartier-Bresson (Black and White Photography) Signed and stamped with photographers blindstamp Silver gelatin print 16 x 20 inches Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908-2004), arguably the most significant photographer of the twentieth-century, was one of the co-founders of Magnum Photos in 1947 and champion of the “decisive moment...
Silver Gelatin
Queen Charlotte's Ball
By Henri Cartier-Bresson
Located in Santa Monica, CA
What makes Henri Cartier-Bresson’s vast body of work so universally impressive is that he was seemingly present at every significant event and in the intimate company of every import...
Silver Gelatin
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H 11 in W 14 in
Ivry-Sur-Seine, 1955 - Henri Cartier-Bresson (Black and White Photography)
By Henri Cartier-Bresson
Located in London, GB
Ivry-Sur-Seine, 1955 - Henri Cartier-Bresson (Black and White Photography) Signed and stamped with photographer's blind stamp Silver gelatin print, printed 1980s 11 x 14 inches Henr...
Silver Gelatin
HENRI MATISSE, VENCE, FRANCE
By Henri Cartier-Bresson
Located in Aventura, FL
Gelatin silver print. Printed circa 1970s. Signed in ink and copyright credit blindstamp in the margin. Sheet size 11.75 x 17.625 inches. Image size approx 9.5 x 14 inches. Frame siz...
Paper, Silver Gelatin
Sold
H 13.5 in W 9 in
Cape Cod Woman on the Fourth of July, Documentary Portrait Photography
By Henri Cartier-Bresson
Located in New york, NY
As to 4th of July, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, USA, 1947, Henri Cartier-Bresson said about his portrait: "This woman explained to me that the flagpole over her door was broken but on a ...
Photographic Film, Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin
Rangoon, Burma, vintage gelatin silver print, stamped
By Henri Cartier-Bresson
Located in New york, NY
Rangoon, Burma, 1948 by legendary French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson is a vintage gelatin silver print, stamped verso. Burmese girl...
Photographic Film, Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin
Sold
H 12 in W 8 in
Hamburg, Germany, vintage gelatin silver print, stamped
By Henri Cartier-Bresson
Located in New york, NY
Hamburg, Germany, 1962-1953 by legendary French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson is a vintage gelatin silver print, stamped verso. Photo...
Photographic Film, Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin
France, vintage gelatin silver print, stamped
By Henri Cartier-Bresson
Located in New york, NY
France, 1960 by legendary French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson is a vintage gelatin silver print, stamped verso. Henri Cartier-Bresson. born on August 22, 1908 in Chanteloup, France, is a pioneer in photojournalism. A French humanist photographer considered master of candid photography...
Photographic Film, Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin