While magazines could guarantee the wide distribution of his photographs, there were always strings attached, and books could not provide the scope the artist required. With a personal show, on the other hand, the artist was a free agent and it was there that his work was judged. Henri Cartier-Bresson always took great pains with his exhibitions, and it was often while working on them that he would refine his work.
– Extract from Philippe Arbaizar’s text, “The Public Eye: Shows and Exhibitions”, in The man, the image and the world & the world, Thames and Hudson.
Personal Exhibitions
1933: Anti-Graphic Photography, Photographs by Henri Cartier-Bresson, Julien Levy Gallery, New York, September 25th – October 16th, 1933.
1935: Fotografias : Cartier-Bresson, Alvarez Bravo, Palacio de Bellas Artes, Mexico, March 11th – 20th, 1935.
Documentary & Anti-Graphic Photographs by Cartier-Bresson, Walker Evans & Alvarez Bravo, Julien Levy Gallery, New York, April 23rd – May 7th, 1935.
1947: The photographs by Henri Cartier-Bresson, Museum of Modern Art, New York, February 5th – April 6th, 1947.
1952: Photographs by Henri Cartier-Bresson, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, February 7th – March 4th, 1952.
1955: Henri Cartier-Bresson: Photographies 1930-1955, Musée des Arts décoratifs, Palais du Louvre, Pavillon de Marsan, Paris, October 26th – November 30th, 1955.
1966-1967: Photographies d’Henri Cartier-Bresson, Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Palais du Louvre, Pavillon de Marsan, Paris, November 30th 1966 – January 30th, 1967.
1968: Cartier-Bresson: Recent Photographs, Museum of Modern Art, New York, June 24th– September 2nd, 1968.
1969: L’Homme et la Machine, IBM, Paris, April 10th – 15th, 1969.
1970: Henri Cartier-Bresson: En France, Galeries Nationales d’Expositions du Grand Palais, Paris, October 21st – November 30th, 1970.
1974: A propos U.S.S.R. 1953/1974: Henri Cartier-Bresson, International Center of Photography, New York, November 16th, 1974 – February 15th, 1975.
1975: Henri Cartier-Bresson, drawings, Carlton Gallery, New York, February – March 1975.
1977: Images du Pays Franc, Palais Rihour, Lille, June 24th – July 4th, 1977.
1978: Cartier-Bresson Archival Collection, University of Fine Arts, Osaka, Japan, April 4th – 21st, 1978.
1979-1980: Henri Cartier-Bresson: Photographer, International Center of Photography, New York, November 8th, 1979 – January 6th, 1980.
1980: Henri Cartier-Bresson: 300 photographies de 1927 à 1980, Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, November 12th, 1980 – January 11th, 1981.
1981: Henri Cartier-Bresson: Dessins 1973 – 1981, Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, May 20th – September 13th, 1981.
1984: Henri Cartier-Bresson: Carnet de Notes sur le Mexique, Centre Culturel du Mexique, Paris, March 15th – April 28th, 1984.
Henri Cartier-Bresson: Drawings and Paintings, Museum of Modern Art, Oxford, England, June 3rd – July 29th, 1984.
1984-1985:Paris à vue d’œil, Musée Carnavalet, Paris, November 5th, 1984 – January 6th, 1985.
1985-1986: Henri Cartier-Bresson en Inde, Centre National de la Photographie, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, October 23rd, 1985 – January 13th, 1986.
1987: Henri Cartier-Bresson: The Early Works, Museum of Modern Art, New York, September 10th – November 29th, 1987.
1988-1989: Hommage à Henri Cartier-Bresson, Centre National de la Photographie, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, December 1988 – January 1989.
1991-1992: L’Amérique Furtivement: 1935/1975, Fnac Etoile, Paris, November 14th, 1991 – January 18th, 1992.
1995: Matisse par Henri Cartier-Bresson, Musée Matisse, Le Cateau-Cambrésis, France, May 20th – October 30th, 1995.
1995-1996: Carnets Mexicains 1934 – 1964, Centre National de la Photographie, Hôtel Salomon de Rothschild, Paris, November 8th, 1995 – January 22nd, 1996.
1996: Henri Cartier-Bresson: Pen, Brush and Cameras, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, United States, March 3rd – May 12th, 1996.
1997: Des Européens, Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris, March 20th – June 22nd, 1997.
Henri Cartier-Bresson, dessins 1974-1997, Galerie Claude Bernard, Paris, September 26th – October 30th, 1997.
1998: Henri Cartier-Bresson, Portraits, National Portrait Gallery, London, February 20th – June 7th, 1998.
Line by line, Drawings by Henri Cartier-Bresson, Royal College of Art, London, March 6th – April 9th, 1998.
1999: Landscape, Nihombashi Mitsukoshi Main Store Gallery, Tokyo, October 12th – 17th, 1999.
2000: Vers un autre futur, un regard libertaire, Espace Louise Michel, Paris, April 25th – May 25th, 2000.
2003: De qui s’agit-il ? Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris, April 30th – July 27th, 2003.
Posthumous Exhibitions *
2006: Portraits par Henri Cartier-Bresson: le silence intérieur d’une victime consentante, Fondation HCB, Paris, January 18th – April 9th, 2006.
Le Scrapbook d’Henri Cartier-Bresson, Fondation HCB, Paris, September 21st – December 23rd, 2006.
2008: Henri Cartier-Bresson / Walker Evans : Photographier l’Amérique (1929-1942), Fondation HCB, Paris, September 10th– December 21th, 2008.
2009: Henri Cartier-Bresson: L’imaginaire d’après nature, Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, June 19th– September 13th, 2009
Henri Cartier-Bresson, Paris à vue d’œil, Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris, June 19th– September 13th, 2009
2010: Henri Cartier-Bresson: The Modern Century, Museum of Modern Art, New York, April 11th– June 28th, 2010.
2014: Henri Cartier-Bresson, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, February 12th – June 9th, 2014.
2019: Henri Cartier-Bresson, Chine 1948-1949 | 1958, Fondation HCB, Paris, October 15th – February 2nd, 2020 ; Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, June 20th – November 1st, 2020.
2020-2021: Henri Cartier-Bresson, Le grand jeu, Collection Pinault, Palazzo Grassi, Venise, Mars 22th, 2020 – January 10th, 2021 ; BNF, Paris, May 19 – August 22, 2021.
2021: Henri Cartier-Bresson : Paris Revisited, Musée Carnavalet – Histoire de Paris, June 15th – October 31st, 2021.
2021 – 2022: Henri Cartier-Bresson Photographer, Mohammed VI Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Rabat, Morocco, Novembert 24th – April 30th, 2022.
2022: Henri Cartier-Bresson, China 1948-1949 | 1958, MUDEC (Museo delle Culture), Milan, Italy, February 18th – July 3th, 2022.
Henri Cartier-Bresson – The Decisive Moment, Seoul Arts Center, Seoul, South Korea, June 10th – October 2th, 2022.
* Non-exhaustive list