The Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation is proud to join forces with the Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson to celebrate the extraordinary photographic artistry of the couple Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908-2004) and Martine Franck (1938-2012). This tribute will be showcased in parallel exhibitions at both of the Foundation’s museums, located in Athens and on Andros Island, from July 3 to October 27, 2024.

Henri Cartier-Bresson and Martine Franck shared a deep friendship with Basil and Elise Goulandris. Notably, Cartier-Bresson inaugurated the new wing of the Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation’s Museum of Contemporary Art in Andros in 1987, featuring an exhibition of 150 photographs he personally selected. He even traveled to Hora, Andros, to oversee the exhibition’s setup.

Henri Cartier-Bresson, Last days of the Kuomintang, Shanghai, China, December 1948-January 1949.
© Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson / Magnum Photos

Martine Franck is credited with capturing one of the most striking portraits of Elise Goulandris in Gstaad in 1999, just six months before Elise’s passing in July 2000. The limited number of frames on Martine’s contact sheet, preserved at the Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson, attests to the spontaneity of the moment, resulting in an affectionate portrait that reflects Elise Goulandris’s natural grace and unique gaze.

View of the tribute to Henri Cartier-Bresson that is on display at the Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation.
Photo credits © Chris Doulgeris

In extending the bonds of friendship that united Martine, Elise, Henri, and Basil for nearly 20 years, the Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation and the Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson have collaborated on this double tribute. The exhibitions feature works from the Fondation Cartier-Bresson collection, allowing visitors to appreciate the distinctive perspectives of both photographers. These exhibitions are showcased in different museums to avoid any direct comparison or confrontation.

The exhibitions are held under the auspices of the French Ministry of Culture, underscoring the international cultural significance of this event.

Henri Cartier-Bresson, Srinagar, India, 1948. © Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson /Magnum Photos

Accompanying the exhibitions is a detailed catalogue featuring texts by the three curators: Clément Chéroux, Director of the Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson; Aude Raimbault, Collection Curator of the Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson; and Marie Koutsomallis-Moreau, Head of Collections of the Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation.

Martine Franck, Puri, India, 1980.
© Martine Franck /Magnum Photos

Henri Cartier-Bresson – Athens Exhibition

The tribute to Henri Cartier-Bresson at the Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation’s Museum in Athens consists of two independent thematic sections, designed to present his most iconic photographs while avoiding the overfamiliar. The first section is dedicated to his unique album The Decisive Moment (Images à la sauvette), and the second section features photographs taken during his three travels to Greece.

Henri Cartier-Bresson, Sifnos, 1961. © Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson / Magnum Photos

“I observe. I’m not trying to please people. The only thing that interests me in photography is the immediate aspect. To be there and present: ‘Bang!’ It doesn’t matter what kind of an event it is because every event is worthwhile in its own right.”
— Henri Cartier-Bresson

Henri Cartier-Bresson, Behind the Gare Saint-Lazare, Place de l’Europe, Paris, France, 1932. © Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson / Magnum Photos

‘The Decisive Moment’

The monumental album The Decisive Moment, described by Robert Capa as “a Bible for photographers,” was published in 1952 by Tériade with the American publishing house Simon & Schuster. Seventy-six out of the 126 photographs included in the album will be on display at the Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation, accompanied by vintage prints and archive material. These works present the crucial decades in Cartier-Bresson’s life, from 1932 to 1952. His travels to countries such as France, Italy, Spain, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Germany, the United States, India, China, Indonesia, and Burma reveal a person torn between a personal interpretation of his inner world and an observational approach to the outside world.

View of the tribute to Henri Cartier-Bresson that is on display at the Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation. Photo credits © Chris Doulgeris

‘Greece’

For the first time, the photographs Cartier-Bresson took during his three trips to Greece in 1937, 1953, and 1961, are brought together and displayed in the exhibition section titled Greece. The photographs—most of them unpublished—offer a journey through different regions and archaeological sites around Greece, accompanied by rich and unpublished archive material.

HCB. 02 Henri Cartier-Bresson, 45 Aghion Asomaton, Athens, 1953. © Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson / Magnum Photos

During his first trip in 1937, the photographer visited places such as Athens, Galaxidi, Delphi, Mycenae, Hydra, and Spetses. In 1953, during his second visit, he stayed for three weeks, focusing on archaeological sites while capturing moments of daily life in Athens and exploring the Peloponnese and Central Greece. In his third visit in 1961, as a correspondent for Vogue and Holiday magazines, his itinerary, planned in collaboration with the Greek National Tourism Organisation, allowed him to visit, among other places, Thessaly, Epirus, and the Cycladic islands.

View of the tribute to Henri Cartier-Bresson that is on display at the Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation. Photo credits © Chris Doulgeris

Guided tours of the Henri Cartier-Bresson exhibition will be available throughout the tribute. A specially designed interactive guided tour is scheduled for Friday, July 5 and 12, and every Friday after August 30. Group or private guided tours can also be arranged, while educational programs for children are scheduled for September.

Martine Franck Exhibition in Andros island

The Martine Franck retrospective, titled Looking at Others, at the Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation’s Museum of Contemporary Art in Andros, features approximately 150 of her photographs and important archive material, giving visitors the opportunity to explore the evolution of her work from her first steps in 1963 up to her death in 2012.

Martine Franck, Children’s Library, Clamart, France, 1965.
© Martine Franck /Magnum Photos

“I don’t think you can be a good photographer without being curious about others […]”
— Martine Franck

One of Martine Franck’s main traits was her curiosity about others, a profound interest in people that drove her challenging photographic work. This curiosity defined the subjects she focused on, ranging from the carelessness of childhood to working-class portraits, feminist struggles, Buddhist spirituality, and the elderly.

Martine Franck, Hospice, Ivry-sur-Seine, France, 1975. © Martine Franck / Magnum Photos

The exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Andros highlights Franck’s immense contribution as a great photographer. It sheds light on lesser-known aspects of her work, presented in detail through six thematic sections: the stages of life (childhood, initiation, old age), professional life (workforce, sea workers, public figures), political issues (protests, Saint-Bernard Church, consumerism), feminist struggles (key personalities, activist projects, collective action), spaces of representation, and some of her “landscape thoughts.”

MF. 06-12: EXHIBITION PHOTOS View of the retrospective exhibition of works by Martine Franck “Looking at others”. Photo credits © Chris Doulgeris

The exhibition presents Franck as a political artist committed to the causes of her times, maintaining a direct and close relationship with her subjects, for whom the camera was a mediator that allowed her to “look at others.”

Guided tours in Greek and English are scheduled from August 1 to August 31. Group or private guided tours can also be arranged. Educational programs for children aged 5-7 and 8-12, as well as interactive family guided tours, will be available from July 24 to August 25.

For more information and tickets for the Athens Temporary Exhibition please visit this site: https://goulandris.gr/en/tickets/athens-temporary-exhibition

For tickets at Andros Contemporary Art Museum and the Temporary Exhibition of  Martine Frenck visit this site: https://goulandris.gr/en/visit/be-andros