Dancer preparing for performance of Legong dance

Dancer preparing for performance of Legong dance

Photograph

Henri Cartier-Bresson

Maker
French, 1908–2004

Dancer preparing for performance of Legong dance

Interlude in Bali - The Dancing Island


1949
Gelatin silver print
Image: 9 5/8 × 6 5/8 in. (24.5 × 16.9 cm)
Gift of Dr. Mark Reichman, 2005
2005.0933.0007
Inscriptions Inscribed in pencil on verso, TL: 540-9 \ 6
Typed on applied label on verso, TC: INTERLUDE IN BALI – THE DANCING ISLAND. Pix by Henri Cartier \ Bresson of "Magnum" \ Some chance has set Bali apart from all other islands in the South \ Seas. In all the world man has nowhere achieved such a peace between \ his powers and desires - such a harmony with nature.
Typed on applied label on verso, C: 540-9, 540-11 & 540-16 \ Dancers preparing for performance of Legong dance in village \ of Sanur. They are dressed from head to foot in silk overlaid with \ glittering goldleaf and with rows of fresh frangipani blossoms. \ Enormous ear plugs of gold, an inch in diameter pierce their premat- \ urely distended ear-lobes. Their melancholy little faces are \ heavily powdered, and they wear a white dot (Pirssan), which is a \ mark of beauty in dancers, painted between the eyebrows which \ are shaved and reshaped with black paint.
Stamped in ink on verso, BC: HENRI CARTIER-BRESSON (MAGNUM) \ MAGNUM PHOTOS INC. \ 55 West 45th Street \ New York 19, N.Y. \ PHOTOS MUST NOT BE ALTERED BY TRIMMING
Stamped in ink on verso, BL: SEE \ 6 MAY 1950 \ ILLUSTRATED
Stamped in ink on verso, BR: PROPERTY OF THE \ PERIODICALS ART LIBRARY, \ 186, HIGH HOLBORN, W.C.1. \ MUST BE RETURNED UNDAMAGED
Inscribed in ink on verso, BL: indonesia/Bali
Inscribed in ink on verso, BC: [?]ken/Dancing
Inscribed in pencil on verso, BRC: 550010s \ HCB 409
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