As part of its sixtieth anniversary celebration, Aperture Foundation presents the exhibition Delpire & Co. featuring a half-century of achievement in the life and work of visionary French publisher, editor, and curator Robert Delpire. The exhibition showcases Delpire’s rise to prominence in the world of photography through his pioneering work in magazine and book publishing, film, curatorship, and advertising.

Pursuing a career in medicine, Delpire took a fork in the road and at age 23 published Neuf, an arts magazine created for doctors. He went on to form an advertising agency that served high profile clients such as Citroen and Cacharel, and by the early 1950s he became the publisher of future photography legends including Cartier-Bresson, Brassaï, Doisneau, Lartigue and Bischof. In 1958 he published Robert Frank’s legendary work The Americans, and later Koudelka (Aperture 2007) and Gypsies (Aperture 2011).

Above: “Nous avons une autre conception du lecteur”, André François, 1972; “Qui êtes-vous Polly Maggoo”, poster for film directed by William Klein, produced by Robert Delpire, 1965; Henri Matisse, France, 1944, photograph by Henri Cartier- Bresson.

In July 1982, in conjunction with French Minister of Culture Jack Lang, Delpire founded the National Photography Centre (CNP). Here he began publishing Photo Poche, the first paperback photography series, which continues to be the best-selling photo book anthology. Over 150 of his exhibitions, among them monographic shows on Irving Penn, Robert Frank, William Klein and others, have toured the world. For the French National Library, he organized a retrospective on Henri Cartier-Bresson in 2003, which subsequently toured worldwide.

Delpire & Co. (Delpire et Cie. in the original French) was one of the highlights of the Rencontres d’Arles in summer 2009. In its current incarnation, the materials are being presented simultaneously at four different venues, including Howard Greenberg Gallery, Pace/MacGill Gallery, and La Maison Francais at New York University. Information.

Delpire & Co. opens Wednesday, May 9^th, 6-8 pm. Aperture Gallery, 547 West 27^th Street, 4^th Floor, NY, NY. 
On Friday, May 11, at 6 pm Aperture presents a series of films by Sarah Moon, introduced by the artist and including Le Montreur D’Images (The Go-Between), a documentary on her husband, Robert Delpire. Information. 

Above: All images © copyright Sara Moon, Black Riding Hood. Courtesy Howard Greenberg Gallery.

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