The Fondation’s conservation department regularly presents images that stand-alone, along the visitors’ visit through the space, telling the unique story behind them and thereby unravelling the life of the man who bears the name of the institution. These pearls embody the remarkable career of a 20th century man, steeped in literature and art, whose curiosity was only equalled by his freedom.
Many photographs of Henri Cartier-Bresson are now part of the collective memory and have left a lasting impression due to their link with history, each individual appropriating and forming an attachment with the images depending on their own sensitivity and personal experience.
The collection of more than 30,000 original prints selected by the photographer has many surprises in store. Each new exhibition at the Fondation HCB will reveal rarely published photographs.
This programme is supported by the Gutenberg Agency.
Simone de Beauvoir, Paris, 1947
Henri Cartier-Bresson is 39 years old. In 1947, he photographs Simone de Beauvoir outside her home, in the 14th arrondissement of Paris. The philosopher and soon author of The Second Sex (1949) remembers their first meeting in 1945: “You took a beautiful portrait of me at the Liberation of France.” But this time, Simone de Beauvoir is apparently impatient with Cartier-Bresson, tugging at her dress and saying: “I’m in a rush. How long will this take?” With his slightly caustic sense of humour, he replied: “A bit longer than at the dentist’s but a bit quicker than at the psychoanalyst’s.” “Perhaps she didn’t have a sense of humour”, he later commented, “because she just said: “yes, yes, yes”.
I took two or three photos and said goodbye. I obviously I hadn’t said the right thing.”
Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson
79 rue des Archives – 75003 Paris
