René Burri Art Prints

René Burri (1933-2014) was born in Zurich, Switzerland, where he photographed Winston Churchill at the age of 13. From 1950, he trained as a photographer and from 1953 to 1955 he worked as a documentary filmmaker and began to use a Leica while doing his military service.

In 1955, Burri became a nominee member of Magnum and received international attention for one of his first reportages, on deaf-mute children, published in Life magazine. In 1956, he traveled throughout Europe and the Middle East and then went to Latin America.

While traveling throughout Europe, the Middle East, Southeast and East Asia, and Latin and North America, he covered historical events, such as Leonid Brezhnev’s visit to Cuba in 1974, the fiftieth anniversary of the Long March in China in 1985, and the fall of the Berlin Wall and events in Tiananmen Square in 1989. Among many other subjects, he portrayed Maria Callas, Alberto Giacometti, Yves Klein, Le Corbusier, and Ernesto “Che” Guevara. His portrait of the revolutionary with his cigar became known the world over. He was the recipient of numerous prizes and awards, including the Leica Hall of Fame Award in 2013.