The New Beginning for Italian Photography: 1945-1965, an exhibition of Italian postwar photography, will be on view at Howard Greenberg Gallery in September. The exhibition explores how photographers documented daily realities during the two decades after World War II.
Among the photographers in the exhibition are Carlo Bavagnoli, who photographed in working-class neighborhoods in Rome, and later contributed to Life magazine; Mario de Biasi, who began taking pictures in 1944 with a camera found in the rubble of Nuremberg; Sante Vittorio Malli, who dedicated himself to portraits and landscapes, and established the photo group, Il Naviglio, in 1956; Franco Pinna, who took his first photographs in Rome in 1944, during the arrival of the Allied troops; and Stefano Robino, an artist and designer known for his cultured and elegant style.
Independent curator and journalist Enrica Viganò has spent over a decade researching the phenomenon of Italian neorealism in photography and identifying important works and artists of the period. As she writes in an essay in the new book NeoRealismo: The New Image in Italy 1932-1960, “This period of the country’s rebirth was characterized by an attempt at collective identification, a venture in which photography could play an essential role. The vision of the photographers dealt with genuine people, real landscapes, collective stories that vibrated with skin and soul.”
The New Beginning for Italian Photography: 1945-1965 will be on view from September 12 to November 10, 2018 at Howard Greenberg Gallery, 41 East 57th Street Suite 1406, NYC. An Opening Reception will be held on Wednesday, September 12 from 6:00-8:00pm.
This exhibition is in conjunction with NeoRealisimo: The New Image in Italy, 1932-1960 at Grey Art Gallery/NYU, and a September exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art featuring a selection of postwar images from their permanent collection. In addition, a new book, NewRealisimo: The New Image in Italy 1932-1960 (Prestel) by Enrica Vigano, with a foreword by Martin Scorsese will be published in September.
While at 41 East 57th Street, you might also enjoy Neorealisimo: Nuova Fotografia Italiana, a group exhibition of vintage photographs at Keith de Lellis Gallery in Suite 703, on view from September 3 to November 3, 2018.