Henri Cartier-Bresson, (1908-2004)

Pandit Nehru with Lord and Lady Mountbatten outside Government House

Pandit Nehru with Lord and Lady Mountbatten outside Government House, 1948
Gelatin silver print, printed c. 1948, inscribed 'À Lincoln et Fardo, Affecteusement, Henri' in ink and Cartier-Bresson/ Magnum copyright credit stamp on the verso.
9 1/2 x 6 1/4in (24.1 x 15.8cm)

Provenance
From Henri-Cartier-Bresson;
to Lincoln and Fidelma "Fido" Kirstein;
by bequest to the present owner

Literature
Henri Cartier-Bresson in India, Thames & Hudson, 1987, pl. 96

Lincoln Kirstein wrote the principal catalogue essay for Cartier-Bresson's first exhibition at The Museum of Modern Art, New York in 1947. No pictures from India were included in that show, as they had been made so recently beforehand.
In this early printings of the image, Cartier-Bresson directed his printer to crop out the fragment of a woman's skirt on the right margin. Later, when the mantra of the uncropped negative became current (after The Decisive Moment was published in 1952), some prints include the full image, including the skirt (and allowing the black surround along the right margin to be included in the print).