In 1991, the National Center for Contemporary Arts has promised to Henri Cartier-Bresson, to destroy his work affected by the flooding. But after a while photographs have appeared in the sale ...

Paris Foundation Henri Cartier-Bresson (Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson) demanded from the Government of France to recognize that despite the agreement with the artist, it does not destroy his work, damaged as a result of flooding the basement of National Center for Contemporary Art (CNAC) . The widow of French photographer Frank Martin (Martine Franck) argues that the «dead» prints occasionally appear on the art market.

In 1955 in the Louvre the exhibition of Cartier-Bresson, which exhibited 358 photographs. Some of them have been implemented in the 1930's, but most - photos of post-war years, made in the Soviet Union, the United States, India, China ... The exhibition has visited eight countries, including the United States. After the end of Cartier-Bresson has presented all of the French. He also added 68 prints representing a «abridged» version of the exhibition in the Louvre. First, the images stored in the National Library, but in 1968-m an artist asked to carry them to the CNAC. In 1970, he gave the center 104 prints were exhibited at the exhibition «France» at the Grand Palais, and in 1972-m - 21 portraits of famous personalities. So from CNAC was the work of 551 great photographer.

In 1991, CNAC agreed to move its archives to another building. Found that, in the basement, which houses photographs of Cartier-Bresson, natekla water. All prints were badly damaged. When the artist was informed of this, he gave permission to destroy them. According to the director of fund-stick Allman Claude (Claude Allemand-Cosneau), images cut into pieces.

Ten years later, the whole hundred pictures «surfaced» at a fair in the Bastille. Eight prints were found in the Paris auction catalog Beaussant Lefèvre. As the auction house expert, Pierre-Marc Richard (Pierre-Marc Richard), sells images found them to scrap-heap. According to experts, fingerprints were «very dirty. They looked as if they walked somebody. It is unlikely that they were in the archives ». At the request of counsel of Cartier-Bresson, the work was taken off the auction, but the artist did not know the name of who put them on sale: auction houses take care of the anonymity of their clients. More recently, it became known that some prints of CNAC reappeared on the market.

Chapter CNAC Claude Allman-stick (Claude Allemand-Cosneau) said that it was very regrettable incident. But she does not want to recognize that the center failed to meet its obligations to destroy works: according to her, for sale photos are not relevant to the lost country. However, Frank and Agnes Martin, Sir (Agnès Sire, director of the Foundation Cartier-Bresson) believe that it is trying to sell works from the archives of CNAC, and those that were exhibited at an exhibition in 1955. «Calculate» these images is easy: all the exhibits of the exhibition were photographed. Besides, as he wrote himself Cartier-Bresson in a letter addressed Allman-stick, some of the pictures exhibited in the Louvre were printed in a single copy. The size of all 358 images as unique.

If the footprints were actually cut, but simply thrown on the scrap-heap, or stolen, those who pribral their hands, probably hoping to catch a whale: in recent years, the works of Cartier-Bresson went. In the 1980's, as openly stated Claude Allman, mandarin, photos are not treated as works of art, so employees do not take care of CNAC preservation of the artist. Now another thing. 11 April 2008 snapshot of Cartier-Bresson «Heres», printed in 1932, has brought at auction Christie's entire 265 thousand dollars!

The photographer died in 2004 at the age of 95 years. Shortly before his death, he (along with his wife and daughter) founded the Foundation Cartier-Bresson, who has since disposed of his legacy. One of the reasons for establishing this institution was the unwillingness to communicate with the state, not been able to retain the gift of the artist. Cartier-Bresson was the first French photographer, to establish such a fund.

Material prepared Yulia Maksimova, AI

Source: lemonde.fr , artinvestment.ru