Just seventy years after the start of Operation Husky, which led the allied troops to conquer Sicily, the Galleria Credito Siciliano, in Acireale, is proposing a major exhibition in which the Landing relives in images by the famous American photographer Phil Stern. The exhibition which opens on 11 July offers the opportunity for Stern, now 93 years old, to return to the places he recounted in 1943 and his journey through time, the impressions seventy years later will be the subject of a documentary curated by Ezio Costanzo directed by Filippo Arlotta.
Through the powerful images of Stern and those of documentary cut from the Imperial War Museum relive the different moments of what was one of the most impressive operations of the Second World War. Under the command of Patton (US VII Army) and Montgomery (VIII British Army) in the early hours of July 10, 1943, 160 Anglo-American soldiers landed on the island. American troops reach Gela, Scoglitti and Licata, while British troops occupy the south-eastern coast of the island, between Marzamemi and Syracuse. The defense of Sicily is entrusted to 220 Italian soldiers and 30 Germans. On July 22 Patton conquered Palermo and on August 17 he reached Messina, the last destination of Operation Husky. The conquest of the island will not be a simple walk for the Anglo-Americans who will leave over 5000 dead in just 38 days. On 3 September, in Cassibile (Sr) Italy signs the armistice (made public on the radio on 8 September by General Badoglio) with the Allies which sanctions unconditional surrender.
The exhibition produced by Credito Valtellinese Group Foundation it is certainly a reinterpretation of a page of Sicilian and Italian history but it is also a great photography exhibition. It is the first extensive monograph dedicated to Phil Stern "war photographer". In fact, one of the least known aspects of his photographic production is presented, with which he began his career.
Master of black and white, Stern is famous for the portraits dedicated to the great stars of the American star system. His are many of the most intense images of James Dean, with whom he was a personal friend, and Marilyn Monroe, as well as Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, the other jazz greats or Frank Sinatra. He was the photographer who "was always at right place at the right time” and who, moreover, knew how to create an understanding empathy with the photographed subject, always capturing images and charms with grace and irony. Often his work is behind the scenes, which humanizes the subject, brings him closer to the reader.
Stern, descended from Russian Jewish immigrants to the States, grew up in the Bronx. His career, not yet finished, begins with collaborations on Friday and then on Life, Collier's, Look. Then the work for the cinema and the collaboration with Orson Welles in Citizen Kane. In '41, Stern leaves for the front; volunteer in North Africa he is wounded in Tunisia. As a war correspondent for the US military magazine, he followed the landing in Sicily where he was wounded and as a result of this he received, with his repatriation, a war decoration. Even in the photos on the various battlefields, Stern retains his artistic freshness. Alongside the necessary formality, he accompanies the ability to tell stories of living and true humanity. Not unlike what he did on the sets of major Hollywood productions.
Alongside 70 large-format images of Stern, documenting the period from the night between 9 and 10 July, the launch date of the landing, to the announcement of the Italian Armistice of 8 September (dates chosen not by chance as start and end date of the exhibition) a video slideshow - documentary will be set up by Carmelo Nicosia in charge of the Photography and Video department of the Academy of Fine Arts in Catania, which will give the viewer an idea of some of the places of the Landing today also through Stern's commentary impressions. A further 100 images from the archives of the Imperial War Museum in London, taken by combat cameramen during the invasion of the island, will conclude the exhibition dedicated to Phil Stern.
From 11 July to 8 September 2013
The exhibition “Phil Stern. Sicily 1943” is curated by Ezio Costanzo with research from the Imperial War Museum by Cristina Quadrio Curzio and Leo Guerra.
