A short book review of Henri Cartier-Bresson: The Modern Century

Henri Cartier-Bresson: The Modern Century by Peter Galassi

A short book review of Henri Cartier-Bresson: The Modern Century. First a list of what is inside the book by looking at the table of contents:

Forward by Glenn D. Lowry, Director

Preface and Acknowledgments by Peter Galassi, Chief Curator, Department of Photography

Old Worlds, Modern Times Essay by Peter Galassi

Photographs

List of Photographs

Points of Reference 

 

At Home Everywhere:
A chronology of Henri Cartier-Bresson travels

For the printed page: Cartier-Bresson’s work in the periodical press

Chronology of major photographic exhibitions and books

Selected Bibliography and Filmography

Index

376 pages 

 

The Photographs are divided into 13 sections:

Prelude

After the War, End of an Era

Old Worlds: East

Old Worlds: West

Old Worlds: France

New Worlds: USA

New Worlds: USSR

Communism and Capitalism at Work

China, The Great Leap Forward. 1958

Bankers Trust Company, New York. 1960

Interlude

Portraits

Encounters and Gatherings

Modern Times

The book is a joy. Both the printing quality and layout is well done including the paper and binding. The way the book is organized makes it easy to get a handle on the many years covered starting around 1930 to about 1989.

Mr. Galassi essay is thought provoking and a good read. He makes it clear that Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908-2004) traveled to learn, live, find life and he happened to photograph along the way. We are much richer because of this but so was he. Remember for most of the years after the war he was paid as a photojournalist to travel and photograph over much of the world.

I would love to see the exhibit but probably will not be able to as the nearest to me will be in Georgia. I am thankful many years ago I was able to see the Master Collection exhibit in Houston at the Rice Media Center which included many images that are in this book. (Master Collection had 385 photographs selected by Cartier-Bresson and paid for by John and Dominique de Menil)

The exhibit will be in NYC, Chicago, San Francisco and Atlanta at different times.

I wish to thank the University of North Texas at Denton, Texas and the Tom Green Country Library at San Angelo, Texas. The book I read and enjoyed came from UNT through TGCL and interlibrary loan.

Printed in Germany

Published by the Museum of Modern Art ©2010

For more information:

Henri Cartier-Bresson: The Modern Century Exhibit April 11–June 28, 2010 

Charlie Rose – Henri Cartier-Bresson: The Modern Century
 
  

Tagged as: Charlie Rose, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Museum of Modern Art, Peter Galassi, The Modern Century