The relationship of the sleeping fruit vendor to the graffito on the wall above him is a conundrum with several possible interpretations. Whatever private speculations Cartier-Bresson had about its meaning, he saw at once that the resemblance of the drawn head to the real one was remarkable and that any explanation of their juxtaposition would be less interesting than the continuing enigma.
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Inscription: Inscribed in pencil on mount, verso C [sideways]: "59"
John C. Waddell
Museum of Modern Art, New York. "Henri Cartier-Bresson [X]," April 30, 1905–May 1, 1905.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The New Vision: Photography between the World Wars. The Ford Motor Company Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art," September 23–December 31, 1989.
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. "The New Vision: Photography between the World Wars. The Ford Motor Company Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art," February 28–April 22, 1990.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art. "The New Vision: Photography between the World Wars. The Ford Motor Company Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art," May 10–July 15, 1990.
High Museum of Art. "The New Vision: Photography between the World Wars. The Ford Motor Company Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art," February 5–April 28, 1991.
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. "The New Vision: Photography between the World Wars. The Ford Motor Company Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art," June 8–August 4, 1991.
IVAM, Centre Julio Gonzalez, Valencia. "The New Vision, IVAM, Centre Julio Gonzalez, Valencia," January 20, 1995–March 26, 1995.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Johnson Gallery, Selections from the Collection 37," March 8–June 28, 2004.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Framing a Century: Master Photographers, 1840–1940," June 3–September 1, 2008.
Seldes, Gilbert, and Leigh Irwin, ed. This is New York: The First Modern Photography Book of New York. New York: D. Kemp, 1934. p. 11.
Galassi, Peter. Henri Cartier-Bresson: the Early Work. New York: Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1987. p. 76.
Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Photography between the Wars: Selections from the Ford Motor Company Collection." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin (Spring 1988). p. 52.
Hambourg, Maria Morris. The New Vision: Photography between the World Wars, Ford Motor Company Collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1989. no. 33.
Henri Cartier-Bresson (French, Chanteloup-en-Brie 1908–2004 Montjustin)
December 1989
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