Five Curators Reinterpret Cartier-Bresson at Palazzo Grassi

Palazzo Grassi in Venice presents "Henri Cartier-Bresson. Le Grand Jeu," an exhibition curated by five individuals: François Pinault, Annie Leibovitz, Javier Cercas, Wim Wenders, and Sylvie Aubenas, coordinated by Matthieu Humery. Each curator independently selected about fifty photographs from Cartier-Bresson's 1973 Master Collection, a set of 385 images chosen by the photographer at the request of John and Dominique de Menil. Six copies of the Master Collection exist; one was acquired by Pinault. The exhibition is co-organized with the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, which holds another copy. Pinault's selection focuses on street life and nostalgia. Leibovitz, who met Cartier-Bresson in 1976, includes portraits of Stieglitz, Brodovič, and Stravinskij. Cercas, unfamiliar with Cartier-Bresson's work, chose images based on pure visual impact. Wenders arranged his selection like film stills, reflecting on his one meeting with the photographer. Aubenas, as a photography historian, created a section with colored walls exploring themes of chance and the double. The exhibition runs at Palazzo Grassi in 2020.