René Burri GalerieEstherWoerdehoff

Biography
Artist
René Burri
Born in 1933, René Burri studied graphic design and photography at the School of
Applied Arts in Zurich. At first more interested in documentary film, he finally became
a photographer and opened a studio with Walter Binder. During his military service in
1953, he started taking pictures using a Leica.
In 1955, Life Magazine published his photo essay on a school for deaf-mute children.
He became at first an associate and then, in 1959, a full member of the prestigious
photo agency, Magnum. As a Photo- reporter, René Burri travelled around the world to
follow the great events of his time, depicting everyday life, street scenes, atmospheres
in pictures filled with humanity. His photo essays were published in the most
important magazines and newspapers such as Life, Paris-Match, Du, Stern, The New
York Times.
In 1998, he won the “Erich Salomon Prize” of the German Society for Photography
and in 2011, the “ Swiss Press Photo Lifetime Achievement Award” for his entire
career. Famous for his portrayal of Che Guevara, René Burri also photographed many
celebrities and artists who sometimes become friends, as Giacometti, Picasso and Le
Corbusier. In 2004, the Maison européenne de la photographie in Paris held a major
retrospective exhibition of his work, featured in many museums in Europe and South
America.
In addition to his photographic work in black and white or in color, still largely
unpublished, René Burri also filmed several documentaries and expressed himself
as an artist with collages and drawings. René Burri died in 2014 in Switzerland. His
photographic collection, cared by the Foundation that bears his name, was deposited
since 2013 to the Musée de l’Elysée in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Exhibitions
(selection)
2014
René Burri : Mouvement, Maison européenne de la photographie, Paris
Portraits d’artistes, Magnum Gallery, Paris
2013
René Burri – Doppelleben, Museum für Gestaltung, Zurich, Switzerland
Nuit de la Photo, La Chaux de Fonds, Switzerland
Fondazione Merz, Turino, Italy
Nuit des images, Musée de L’Elysée, Lausanne, Switzerland
Retrospective, Scavi Scaligeri, Verona, Italy
Utopia : Alberto Giacometti, Le Corbusier, Jean Tinguely, Yves Klein, Pablo Picasso,
Musée de Penthes, Geneva, Switzerland
2012
René Burri - Larger than life, Atlas Gallery, London, England
Che Guevara, Révolution à vendre, Festival Images, Vevey, Switzerland
2011
Burri without borders, Galerie Esther Woerdehoff, Paris, France
Le Corbusier intime, Villa Le Lac, Corseaux, Switzerland
Projet Corrida, Galerie Ammann, Locarno, Switzerland
Galerie Esther Woerdehoff
36, rue Falguière
75015 Paris – France
www.ewgalerie.com
2010
René Burri - Fotografien, Kunst Haus Wien, Vienna, Austria
Vintage Prints – Le Corbusier, Museum Bellerive, Zürich, Switzerland
Retrospectief, Kunsthal, Rotterdam, Netherlands
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GalerieEstherWoerdehoff
2009
René Burri : A Retrospective, Flo Peters Gallery, Hamburg, Germany
René Burri : Un mundo, Museo de Arte del Banco de la República, Biblioteca Luis
Ángel Arango, Bogota, Colombia
Filmfestival - René Burri e David Lynch, Galerie Ammann, Locarno, Switzerland
2008
Centro Cultural Borges, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Museo de Bellas Artes, Caracas, Venezuela
2007
A photographer, a world, Havana, Cuba
Clamor, grito y amor, Galerie Esther Woerdehoff, Paris, France
2006
Rétrospective 1950-2000, Manchester Art Gallery, England
Photographies, Musée de l’Elysée, Lausanne, Switzerland
Le Corbusier - René Burri : Dialogue, Fondation Le Corbusier, Paris, France
Utopia, Galerie WestLicht, Vienna, Austria
2005
René Burri: Photos de Jean Tinguely & Cie, Musée Tinguely, Basel, Switzerland
René Burri: Utopia – Architecture et Architecte, Ausstellungsraum Klingental, Basel
Rencontres Internationales de la Photographie, Guangzhou, China
Rétrospective 1950-2000, Palazzo dell’Arengario, Milano, Italy
Photographs, Cultural Forum for Photography, Berlin, Germany
2004
René Burri – Rétrospective 1950–2000, Maison Européenne de la Photographie,
Paris; Musée de l’Elysée, Lausanne, Switzerland (Curator: Hans-Michael Koetzle,
2005 and also Milano and Zürich)
René Burri : Utopia – Architecture et Architecte, Hermès Gallery, New York, USA;
Leica Gallery, Prague, Czech Republic
2002
Berner Blitz, Galerie Karrer, Zurich, Switzerland
1998
77 Strange Sensations, Villa Tobler, Zurich, Switzerland
Die Deutschen, Fotografie Forum International, Francfort sur le Main, Germany (from
1998 to 2003, also in Kaufbeuren, Velbert, Toulouse, and Burghausen)
1997
Che, Fnac-Forum, Paris; Galerie R. Mangisch, Zurich, Switzerland (from 1997 to
2001, also in Barcelona, Lille, Lisbon)
1995
Le Paris de René Burri, Centre Culturel Suisse, Paris, France
1994
Dialogue avec Le Corbusier, Museo de arte moderno de Medellín, Medellín, Colombia
(1995 also in Curitiba, São Paulo, Rio de Janeire, Brasília and Lima)
1987
Dans la familiarité de Corbu, Le Musée de l’Elysée, Lausanne, Switzerland
An American Dream, International Center of Photography, New York, USA
Galerie Esther Woerdehoff
36, rue Falguière
75015 Paris – France
www.ewgalerie.com
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GalerieEstherWoerdehoff
1984/1985
One World, Kunsthaus Zurich, Zurich; Berner Photo-Galerie, Bern; Centre National
de la Photographie and Palais de Tokyo, Paris; Musée des arts décoratifs, Lausanne,
Switzerland (from 1985 to 1995, also in Havana, New York, New Delhi, Bratislava
and Ostrava)
1980/1981
Die Deutschen, Folkwang Museum, Essen; Galerie Rudolf Kicken, Cologne; Galerie
Nagel, Berlin, Germany
1972
René Burri Retrospective, Raffi Photo Gallery, New York; Il Diaframma, Milano, Italy
1971
50 Photographies de René Burri, Galerie Rencontre, Paris, France
1967
René Burri Retrospective, Art Institute, Chicago, USA
1966
China, Galerie Form, Zurich, Switzerland
Bibliography
(selection)
Impossible Réminiscence, Phaidon (2013), text by Hans-Michael Koetzle
René Burri : Berlin, Hatje Cantz, text by Felix Hoffmann and foreword by
Hans-Michael Koetzle (september 2013)
Rene Burri. Brasilia: Photographs 1960-1993, Verlag Scheidegger & Spiess AG
(2011)
100 photos de René Burri pour la liberté de la presse, Reporters without borders
(2011)
Pour le Corbusier, René Burri Juin 1962, Lars Müller Publishers (2006)
René Burri: face à face, Museum Jean Tinguely Basel, Benteli Verlag (2005)
Photographie, Phaidon (London, 2004)
Luis Barragan, Phaidon (London, 2000)
Che Guevara, Photo Poche collection, Cnp (April 29th, 1999)
Le Corbusier, Princeton Architectural Press (August 1999)
Dall’ Angoscia Alla Speranza, « Documenti » dell’ Accademia di architettura
dell’Università della Svizzera italiana (Mendrisio, Switzerland, 1999)
Die Deutschen, Schirmer/Mosel, text by Hans Magnus Enzensberger (Munich, 1999)
77 Strange Sensation, Edition Dino Simonett (Zurich, 1998)
Photopoche René Burri, Nathan (Paris, 1998)
Du « Picasso », (Paris 1998)
Galerie Esther Woerdehoff
36, rue Falguière
75015 Paris – France
www.ewgalerie.com
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GalerieEstherWoerdehoff
Gauchos, Takarajma Books (1994)
Cuba Y Cuba, Motta Fotografia (Milano, 1994)
Die Deutschen, Schirmer/Mosel, text by Hans Magnus Enzensberger (Munich, 1986)
Ein Amerikanischer Traum, Franz Greno (Nördlingen, Germany 1986)
One World: Fotografien und Collagen 1950-1983, Editions Benteli (Bern, 1984)
The Gaucho, Crown Publishers (NY, London, Buenos Aires, 1968)
Les Allemands, Delpire (Paris, 1963)
Collections
(selection)
Maison européenne de la photographie, Paris
Musée de l’Elysée, Lausanne
Metropolitan art Museum, New York
Galerie Esther Woerdehoff
36, rue Falguière
75015 Paris – France
www.ewgalerie.com
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GalerieEstherWoerdehoff