Henri Cartier-Bresson, the Artist Before the Photographer

Henri Cartier-Bresson, the Artist Before the Photographer

            Before he was Henri Cartier-Bresson the Photographer, he was experimenting with various other styles of art as well. Cartier-Bresson was always interested in different kinds of creative outlets when he was younger.  He originally started with music, but eventually went into different kinds of fine arts. He was interested in sketching, painting, and eventually photography. His Uncle Louis is the one who introduced him to oil painting and was giving him lessons. Unfortunately his uncle died in World War I and could no longer continue giving young Cartier-Bresson lessons in oil painting. He continued to practice and experiment with sketching.

            For his education, he attended a private art school led by André Lhote, who was a cubist painter and sculptor. Lhote wanted to combine the cubists’ approach to art with the traditional methods of classical art. Cartier-Bresson also learned more about painting from society portraitist Jacques Émile Blanche. Lhote took the classes to the Louvre to experience classical art and galleries to experience contemporary art. Henri Cartier-Bresson found himself admiring the work of Jan van Eyck and Masaccio, and refers to Lhote as his teacher on photography without a camera.  

            After finishing school, Cartier-Bresson realized the intense and strict structure he had been under while studying under Lhote, actually helped him when it came to problem solving and composing his later work, he especially found the sketching helped him when composing a photograph. He went on to meet several surrealist painters and photographers, and he experimented with the surrealist style, but he didn’t like it and ended up destroying all of his early work.

Galassi, Peter, and Henri Cartier-Bresson. Henri Cartier-Bresson: The Early Work. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1987.