HENRI CARTIER-BRESSON 1908-2004 Alberto Giacome

PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF JAMES LORD

Provenance
From the artist; to James Lord

Literature

Phillips de Pury & Company is pleased to offer this and Lots 129-139 in the Part II sale at no reserve. James Lord and Henri Cartier-Bresson were brought together through their mutual friendship with Albert Giacometti. James Lord, Giacometti's biographer penned an extraordinary portrait of the sculptor, while Cartier-Bresson immortalized him through the lens. What the author and the photographer also shared was a keen understanding of the sculptor's genius in making art. Whether describing his actions in words while he drew or sculpted, or capturing his gait in the studio or outdoors, both saw Giacometti as one of his own sculptures. He was the walking man. The personal inscriptions and dedications on the photographs from Cartier-Bresson to James Lord add a unique aura to this exceptional selection of photographs from the writer's collection. The editor of Verve, E. Teriade, initially introduced Henri Cartier-Bresson to Alberto Giacometti in Paris, and in 1938, he photographed him sculpting in his Parisian atelier. During that period, both men shared a similar interest in Surrealism and were exhibited together at the Julien Levy Gallery in New York. Cartier-Bresson managed to capture intimate moments in the life of Alberto, such as with his mother and wife in his hometown of Stampa, Switzerland or at the "Decisive Moment" when he is crossing the street in Monteparnasse. These photographs testify to the bond that united these two friends. James Lord sat as a model a number of times for the sculptor, as Giacometti did for Cartier-Bresson's camera. In 1965 Lord published "A Giacometti Portrait", a record of a sitting that was intended for an afternoon and instead lasted eighteen days. It is considered a classic in the genre. His "Giacometti: A Biography" was nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award.