Scatti da Pioniere. Ritratti fotografici del Conte Calvi

From 1 October 2023 to 26 February 2024
Six years after the exhibition held at the Palazzetto Eucherio Sanvitale in the Giardino Ducale, the Municipality of Parma-Department of Culture is dedicating a new exhibition to Count Guido Calvi di Coenzo entitled “Pioneer Shots. Photographic portraits of Count Calvi”, curated by the art historian Alessandro Malinverni, scientific contact of the Stuard Art Gallery, with the technical supervision of Silvana Randazzo, head of the Museum System of the Municipality of Parma. This time the chosen location is the Stuard Art Gallery, to which the famous photographer’s material arrived thanks to the donation to the Municipality by the Calvi Parisetti heirs.

The small exhibition aims to underline the importance of the aristocrat from Parma who, with Filippo Beghi and Carlo Saccani, was a pioneer of the new art in the city and protagonist of the transition from the daguerreotype (non-reproducible image on copper) to photography (reproducible image on paper).

Already investigated by Romano Rosati and Roberto Spocci in essential contributions on the evolution of Parma photography, Calvi showed notable intellectual and ethical qualities, was an art lover and a very skilled entrepreneur, thanks to his excellent technical mastery.

In addition to a series of original shots – especially of women – and others reproduced in life size, the showcases display albums with precious and original bindings, equipment and instruments partly purchased during the Parisian stay between 1859 and 1860.