Beschreibung:

Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908-2004)Castelo de São Jorge, Lisboa, Portugal, 1955
Gelatin silver print, printed no later than 1959; flush-mounted to masonite, credited in ink and with a 'Das Menschliche Antlitz Europas' exhibition label affixed to the reverse.
12 7/8 x 19 1/4 in. (32.7 x 48.9 cm.)
FootnotesExhibited
Das Menschliche Antlitz Europas, International Salon of Photography, Munich, 18 December 1959- 31 January 1960
Note
This oversized print was produced for inclusion in the 1959 exhibition Das Menschliche Antlitz Europas (The Human Face of Europe), organized by Dr. Tas Toth in Munich. Conceived as both a European response to Edward Steichen's groundbreaking 1955 exhibition The Family of Man, and simultaneously an effort to underline themes of shared humanity in the wake of the second World War, Das Menschliche Antlitz Europas was on view from December 1959 through January 1960.
Internationally recognized photographers were shown alongside relatively unknown practitioners, in an effort by Dr. Toth to level professional and social hierarchies, creating an environment of "human oneness". In an introductory text written by French author André Maurois, he affirms, "[Those who made this beautiful exhibition possible] wanted to give expression to something grand – something which no language can express, and which is perhaps nothing more than the European attitude to life. I am convinced that they have succeeded."
This large-format exhibition print by Henri Cartier-Bresson was shown alongside work by his contemporaries, including Edward Steichen, Robert Doisneau, Edouard Boubat, Brassaï, Sabine Weiss, Elliott Erwitt, Robert Capa, and Cornell Capa. In 2017, another Cartier-Bresson print included in the 1959 exhibition was sold at Phillips New York for $32,500.