Centre Pompidou presents new Henri Cartier-Bresson retrospective. Relaxnews , Last Updated: 1:35 PM ET The work of Henri Cartier-Bresson, the iconic French photographer who died a decade ago, will be in the spotlight at the Centre Pompidou in Paris from February 12 to June 9 in a new retrospective.
Over five hundred photographs, drawings, paintings, videos and documents will be on display in this exhibit dedicated to the photographer, who was nicknamed "the eye of the century" ("l'oeil du siècle"). During his career of over 70 years, Henri Cartier-Bresson contributed to the modernization of photography and to its prestige as a form of fine art. In addition to its artistic value, his body of work stands out as a true historical testimony, spanning the period from the birth of the Surrealist movement to the late Cold War, and covering such major historical events as World War II, the Spanish Civil War and the decolonization of Africa.
The Centre Pompidou will present the first major retrospective on the artist's work since his death in 2004. Henri Cartier-Bresson. Cartier-Bresson, el retrato de un siglo. Vivió 96 años, entre 1908 y 2004, recorrió varias veces el mundo con su Leica y combatió en primera línea por el surrealismo, el comunismo y el reporterismo.
Además de fotógrafo, Henri Cartier-Bresson fue pintor y dibujante, cineasta y actor ocasional, reportero de hielo y militante de fuego, poeta, antropólogo y emprendedor. Antes y después de cofundar la Agencia Magnum en 1947, retrató a los miserables y a los olvidados, a sus mujeres y sus amigos, guerras y revoluciones, el inconsciente y el fugaz instante decisivo. Sin palabrería ni adornos, a base de instinto, generosidad y pulso de cirujano, dio la espalda a los poderosos y puso el objetivo en los vencidos y la naturalidad. China, Cuba, México, Costa de Marfil, India, Indonesia, Estados Unidos, España, Italia, Francia... Nada parecía quedarle lejos. Sin palabrería ni adornos, dio la espalda a los poderosos y puso el objetivo en los vencidos De joven, Cartier-Bresson quiso dedicarse al arte. Comrade Cartier-Bresson: the great photographer revealed as a communist. The subtitle of the Pompidou Centre's retrospective of the 20th century's best-known photographer could be: Almost Everything You Know About Henri Cartier-Bresson is Wrong.
Or, at least, Long Overdue a Rethink. Its curator, Clement Cheroux, has risen to the unspoken challenge that any Cartier-Bresson exhibition now presents: how to shed new light on the life and work of an artist who so defined the medium that yet another celebration of his genius might seem superfluous. Cheroux has wisely chosen to tackle his life chronologically, mapping out through around 500 images the stages of Cartier-Bresson's creative development, while allowing us surprising glimpses of the private individual behind the legend.
The show includes family albums, portraits of the artist as a young and old man, his early paintings, late drawings, and even a couple of striking, surrealist-influenced collages. The first section of the show is called Rising Signs.