The Great Game - Henri Cartier-Bresson Master Collection at Palazzo Grassi in Venice

Henri Cartier-Bresson, prisoner of war

(Venice, Italy) Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908-2004) used a small Leica camera to capture his singular vision of humanity, disguising the shiny chrome parts with a black ribbon or tape to make it less conspicuous. He was adverse to fame, yet seemed to be at every important event or in the company of every prominent figure of the 20th century. Most importantly, he pioneered the art of street photography.

Born into a wealthy bourgeois family, he painted with the Surrealists and fought with the French Resistance. He was a hungry traveler who roamed the world and caught unparalleled moments of every level of life with his lens. The result was a treasure trove of riveting, candid images that earned him the title "The Eye of the Century."

"Seeing Cartier-Bresson's work made me want to become a photographer."

---Annie Liebovitz 

Lake Sevan, Armenia, USSR, 1972

THE MASTER COLLECTION

At the height of his fame in 1973, HCB decided to take a break from photography and return to his first passion of drawing. His art-collector friends Donimique and John de Menil asked him to create a collection of his best photographs from his contact sheets. At that point, HCB had spent 20 years of intense work at the renowned Magnum Photos, a photographic cooperative which he had co-founded in 1947 after finally escaping a German prisoner of war camp in 1943 on his third attempt. HCB selected 385 images from among tens of thousands of photographs to make up his Master Collection, or Grand Jeu, of which six sets were printed. One of those sets was acquired by the Pinault Collection.

"...how his eyes looked at the world. Can that actually be learned?"

---Wim Wenders

Samuel Beckett, Paris, France, 1964

THE PLAYERS - The five curators

1. François Pinault, Collector, from France
"The ordinary and extraordinary passage of time"

2. Annie Liebovitz, Photographer, from the United States
"Seeing Cartier-Bresson's work"

3. Javier Cercas, Writer, from Spain
"An imminent revelation"

4. Wim Wenders, Director, from Germany
"An eye for an eye (but in a new sense, not with that old meaning of 'revenge')"

5. Sylvie Aubenas, Curator, from France
"Life lines, convergence lines"

 "...this elusive character...constructed a photographic ensemble dazzling with lightness, empathy, humanism and humor..."

---Sylvie Aubenas

Washington, D.C., 1957

THE RULES OF THE GAME

The five co-curators were asked to choose 50 images by HCB from the Master Collection. None of the curators knew what the others had selected. Each curator was given carte blanche to create their own individual backdrop -- the scenography, framing, and color of the walls. The result is five unique perspectives on what influenced Henri Cartier-Bresson, allowing us to see his work from different angles.

"...like catching a fly in midflight."

---Javier Cercas

A Young Belgian Woman is Denounced as a Gestapo Informer, Dessau, April 1945

To come out of quarantine and walk into the halls of Palazzo Grassi and witness the images of Henri Cartier-Bresson is like stumbling upon an oasis of culture after months in a virtual desert. And to see the selections of the five different curators is especially fascinating -- some of the same images crop up in each independent exhibit, seen through different eyes. Each vision has its own impact as it tries to define the mysterious talent that left behind a remarkable trail of captured moments in history.

"Truth, simplicity, humility: that is what characterizes the work of Cariter-Bresson in my eyes."

---François Pinault

Hyères, France, 1932

Based on a project conceived and coordinated by Matthie Humery, Palazzo Grassi presents Henri Cartier-Bresson. Le Grand Jeu, co-organized with the Bibliothèque nationale di France in partnership with the Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson, which runs from July 11, 2020 through March 20, 2021. A ticket includes the Egyptian photographer Youssef Nabil. Once Upon a Dream also at Palazzo Grassi, and the collective Untitled, 2020. Three Perspectives on the Art of the Present at Punta della Dogana. Go to Palazzo Grassi for more information.

Ciao from Venezia,
Cat Bauer
Venetian Cat - The Venice Blog