Henri Cartier-Bresson
1948
Last Days of the Kuomintang, Merchant waiting with Man Eating, Beijing

Gelatin silver print, ferrotyped
6 1/4 x 9 3/8 ins (15.9 x 23.8 cm)
 
Sotheby's - New York
Photographs, 1 April 2015, Lot: 51
 
This print was made during Cartier-Bresson's assignment in China for LIFE in 1948, which the photographer chronicled extensively in his 1956 volume, China in Transition: A Moment in History. While this image ultimately was not used by LIFE, it has attained icon status within the photographer's oeuvre.
 
LL/58470