Behind the Gare Saint-Lazare
{{Short description|Photograph by Henri Cartier-Bresson}}
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File:Henri Cartier-Bresson - Behind the Gare Saint-Lazare, 1932.jpg
Behind the Gare Saint-Lazare is a black and white photograph taken by French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson in Paris in 1932. The photograph has been printed at variable dimensions; the print donated by Cartier-Bresson to the Museum of Modern Art is listed at 35.2 × 24.1 cm.{{Cite web |title=Henri Cartier-Bresson. Behind the Gare St. Lazare. 1932 {{!}} MoMA |url=https://www.moma.org/collection/works/98333 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240111112440/https://www.moma.org/collection/works/98333 |archive-date=2024-01-11 |access-date=2024-01-19 |website=Museum of Modern Art}} It is one of his best known and more critically acclaimed photographs and became iconic of his style that attempted to capture the decisive moment in photography.{{Cite web |url=http://lesensdesimages.com/2013/01/26/analyse-dune-photographie-derriere-la-gare-saint-lazare-de-henri-cartier-bresson-1932/ |title=Analyse d'une photographie : "Derrière la gare Saint-Lazare" de Henri Cartier-Bresson (1932) |work=Le sens des images |access-date=2020-09-13 |archive-date=2021-01-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210115145959/http://lesensdesimages.com/2013/01/26/analyse-dune-photographie-derriere-la-gare-saint-lazare-de-henri-cartier-bresson-1932/ |url-status=dead }} The photograph was considered one of the 100 most influential pictures of all time by Time magazine.{{Cite web|url=http://100photos.time.com/photos/henri-cartier-bresson-behind-gare-saint-lazare|title=See The Story Behind the Gare Saint-Lazare|website=100 Photographs | The Most Influential Images of All Time|access-date=2020-09-11|archive-date=2021-02-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210215050134/http://100photos.time.com/photos/henri-cartier-bresson-behind-gare-saint-lazare|url-status=dead}}
History and description
The spontaneous photograph was taken by Cartier-Bresson at the Place de l'Europe, outside the Saint-Lazare train station, in Paris, with his portable Leica camera. In this case, he took aim at a man who leaps above a shallow flooded space, without touching it, while his shadow is reflected beneath him, near a partially submerged ladder. Behind him posters in a wall advertise the pianist Alexander Brailowsky and dancers - that seem to echo the man's movement - although Cartier-Bresson stated that he had not noticed the posters until afterwards. The man is forever framed in the air, without touching the water, capturing the moment before he inevitably lands in the pool. This was one of the few photographs that the artist cropped. Cartier-Bresson explained that "There was a plank fence around some repairs behind the Gare [Saint] Lazare, and I was peeking through the spaces with my camera eye. This is what I saw. The space between the planks was not entirely wide enough for my lens, which is the reason the picture is cut off on the left.” The uncropped photograph shows the heavy dark shadow with a blurred edge on the left but also displays an uninspiring space below the pool which has also been removed.{{Cite web|url=https://www.theartstory.org/artist/cartier-bresson-henri/|title=Henri Cartier-Bresson Artworks & Famous Photography|website=The Art Story}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.phillips.com/detail/henri-cartierbresson/NY040517/16|title=Henri Cartier-Bresson - Behind the Gare Saint-Lazare, Paris, 1932|website=Phillips}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.phillips.com/detail/henri-cartierbresson/UK040117/59|title=Henri Cartier-Bresson - Behind the Gare Saint-Lazare, Paris, 1932|website=Phillips}}
It was exhibited as soon as 1933 at the Julien Levy gallery in New York under the name "homme sautant place de l'Europe".{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvBhhl2q8cM |title=Une image, des images #1 {{!}} Derrière la gare Saint Lazare d'Henri Cartier-Bresson par Clément Chéroux |date=2023-09-29 |last=Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson |access-date=2024-08-16 |via=YouTube}}
Art market
A print of the photograph sold at Christie's on November 17, 2011 for $590,455, then the highest price for a work by the artist.[https://www.monroegallery.com/news/press/french-photography-auctions-set-new-records French Photography Auctions Set New Records, Monroe Gallery of Photography, 17 November 2011]
Public collections
There are prints of this photograph at several public collections, including the Henri Cartier-Bresson Foundation in Paris, the Musée National d'Art Moderne in Paris, at the Centre Pompidou in Paris,{{Cite web |title=Henri Cartier-Bresson. Behind the Gare St. Lazare |url=https://www.centrepompidou.fr/en/ressources/oeuvre/cByr4z |website=Centre Pompidou}} the Museum of Modern Art in New York,{{Cite web |title=Henri Cartier-Bresson. Behind the Gare St. Lazare. 1932 | MoMA |url=https://www.moma.org/collection/works/98333 |website=The Museum of Modern Art}} the International Center of Photography in New York,{{Cite web |date=January 31, 2018 |title=Behind the Gare Saint-Lazare, Paris |url=https://www.icp.org/browse/archive/objects/behind-the-gare-saint-lazare-paris |website=International Center of Photography}} the Minneapolis Institute of Art,{{Cite web |title=Henri Cartier-Bresson. Behind the Gare St. Lazare. 1932 |url=https://collections.artsmia.org/art/4844/behind-the-gare-saint-lazare-henri-cartier-bresson |website=Minneapolis Institute of Art}} and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.{{Cite web|url=https://www.sfmoma.org/artwork/83-190/|title=Behind the Gare Saint-Lazare, Paris|website=SFMOMA}}{{Dead link|date=October 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
Derivative works
- Isabelle Le Minh, Trop tôt, trop tard (After Henri Cartier-Bresson) (2007){{Cite web |last=Mercier |first=Clémentine |date=2019-09-13 |title=Isabelle Le Minh, le grain détournement |url=https://www.liberation.fr/images/2019/09/13/isabelle-le-minh-le-grain-detournement_1751179/ |access-date=2024-08-16 |website=Libération |language=fr}}
- Charles Woodard, The History of Photography in Pen & Ink (2012){{Cite web |date=2020-09-26 |title=Weekend Reading: Charles Woodard — Online |url=https://www.donttakepictures.com/dtp-blog/2020/9/26/weekend-reading-charles-woodard |access-date=2024-08-16 |website=Don't Take Pictures |language=en-US}}
- Mike Stimpson, Behind the Gare Saint-Lazare, after Henri Cartier-Bresson (2013){{Cite web |title=In pictures: Inspired by classic photographs |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/08/in_pictures_inspired_by_classic_photographs/html/1.stm |access-date=2024-08-16 |website=news.bbc.co.uk}}
- Irina Popova, Iconic Drawings (2015)
- Cortis & Sonderegger, The decisive moment, making of Derrière la Gare Saint-Lazare (2016){{Cite web |title=Derriere la Gare Saint-LazareBehind the Gare St Lazare |url=https://www.cortissonderegger.ch/derriere-la-gare-saint-lazare |access-date=2024-08-16 |website=CORTIS & SONDEREGGER |language=de-CH}}
- Vincent Morla, Parodie de Derrière la Gare Saint-Lazare (2020){{Cite web |last=Prévôt |first=Marin |date=2020-04-02 |title=Confinement : Vincent Morla recrée des photos iconiques avec les moyens du bord |url=https://phototrend.fr/2020/04/confinement-parodie-photos-celebres-vincent-morla/ |access-date=2024-08-16 |website=Phototrend.fr |language=fr-FR}}
See also
References
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{{Henri Cartier-Bresson}}
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Category:Black-and-white photographs
Category:Photographs by Henri Cartier-Bresson
Category:Photographs in the Musée National d'Art Moderne
Category:Photographs in the Museum of Modern Art (New York City)
Category:Photographs in the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art