On Saturday 7 February at 18 pm, the Galleria Civica di Modena inaugurates "The Cinema Show" at Palazzo Santa Margherita, an installation of works from the Photography Collection of the Modena museum curated by Daniele De Luigi and Marco Pierini. The selection of images is dedicated to the seventh art and its protagonists: a substantial nucleus draws from the Franco Fontana fund, while numerous photographs come from new acquisitions that will enrich the Gallery's heritage.
The exhibition itinerary embraces a century of cinema: from the experimental short film "Thaïs" by Anton Giulio Bragaglia, from 1917, throughout the twentieth century to the Italian and international films of recent years and their protagonists, from Woody Allen to Bill Murray, from Nanni Moretti to Paolo Sorrentino.
Scene photographs, studio portraits, shots taken during breaks on the set or on the street by surprise, return a colorful fresco of the world of cinema and its dimension suspended between reality and the imaginary. Among the stars and divas posed there are Marlene Dietrich and Carroll Baker, John Huston and Tony Curtis, Totò and Roberto Benigni, Claudia Gerini and Cristiana Capotondi.
Klaus Kinsy is portrayed with his son Nanhoï in his arms, while Marilyn Monroe, Anna Magnani, Audrey Hepburn appear "paparazzate". Famous directors are represented on the sets of their films, in moments of concentration (Visconti, Antonioni), engaged in intense conversations with the actors (Bertolucci with Depardieu in Novecento, Pasolini with Callas in Medea) or intent on illustrating the execution of the scene (Fellini in 8 ½, the Tavianis in Kaos).
Even the actors often appear caught on the set, while acting or in moments of distraction, such as Eduardo De Filippo joking with Mastroianni. A large section of the exhibition is then dedicated to still photography, with images taken by some of the greatest interpreters of this particular photographic genre on the sets of films such as Earth trembles and Citizen Kane, and stars such as Robert De Niro, Alberto Sordi, Jane Fonda, Charlotte Rampling, Ingrid Bergman.
The review presents the work of about forty photographers, some who have dedicated an entire professional life to cinema, others who have occasionally portrayed its protagonists during their careers. Among the names of the authors, Philippe Antonello, Franco Bellomo, Anton Giulio Bragaglia, Jean-François Bauret, Giovanni Cozzi, Chico De Luigi, Franco Fontana, David Gamble, Marcello Geppetti, Pino Guidolotti, Horst P. Horst, Emilio Lari, Erich Lessing , Gina Lollobrigida, Umberto Montiroli, Luciana Mulas, Ugo Mulas, Claude Nori, Gabriele Pagnini, Federico Patellani, John Phillips, Roger Pic, Pierluigi Praturlon, Paul Ronald, Gianfranco Salis, Tazio Secchiaroli, Pino Settanni, Angelo Turetta, Mario Tursi.
The exhibition is part of a project launched in 2011 aimed at regularly showing the heritage of the Civic Gallery of Modena, and will remain on display in the main hall of Palazzo Santa Margherita until 7 June 2015
