Henri Cartier-Bresson.
The Geometry of the Moment: “Landscapes”
3 September 2011–13 May 2012
Hollerplatz 1
38440 Wolfsburg
Germany
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Wednesday–Sunday 11 a.m.–6 p.m.
Tuesday 11 a.m.–8 p.m.
Monday closed
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Henri Cartier-Bresson, one of the major photographers of the 20th century, was a master of the moment and many of his pictures are now seen as masterpieces from the history of photography. After exhibitions devoted to Brassaï, Lee Miller and Edward Steichen, the Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg now continues its series with a further pioneering exponent of modern photography. The French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908–2004) used an ordinary Leica viewfinder camera on his numerous travels around the world which enabled him to select the right detail and capture the decisive moment within seconds. He described his method of attaining precisely composed photographs with the words: “To take a photograph is to align the head, the eye and the heart. It’s a way of life”.
The exhibition which was made possible through the cooperation with Magnum Photos in Paris features about 100 works selected by the photographer himself. The black-and-white landscape pictures taken between 1933 and 1999 reveal the extent to which Cartier-Bresson’s work was inspired by the fundamentals of Far Eastern philosophy. The selection is supplemented by seven rare lithographs made available by his widow Martine Franck exclusively for this exhibition from her own private collection.
