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Photographs: ITALIAN ICONS

Wednesday 18 June 2025, 04:00 PM • Milan

23

Carla Cerati

(1926)

Morire di classe, Manicomio di Parma, 1969

Artist's Resale Right

Estimate

€ 1.000 - 1.500

Aggiudicato

Current bid Starting bid

€ 700

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At auction on Wednesday 18 June 2025 at 16:00

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Information

Vintage gelatin silver print
cm 24 x 30,5 | 9.4 x 12 in.
Photographer's credit stamp on the verso

Literature

F. Basaglia (edited by), Morire di classe. La condizione manicomiale fotografata da Carla Cerati e Gianni Berengo Gardin, Einaudi, Milano, 1969
Carla Cerati (Bergamo 1926 - Milan 2016) transformed her youthful artistic flair into a passion for photography that led her to make her first professional images of theater and then, in the 1960s, to investigate the world of youth by collaborating with newspapers such as L'Illustrazione Italiana and L'Espresso. Then she documents the theatrical avant-garde (Kantor, Carmelo Bene, the Living Theater) and the protagonists of the cultural world to marry the social commitment that leads her to make important reportages and to sign with Gianni Berengo Gardin the fundamental volume “Morire di classe.” She finally devoted herself to a careful photographic reflection on the female body. Also important was her activity as a writer. 

Between these two images is ideally placed the complicated professional story of Carla Cerati. When, at the end of the 1960s Franco Basaglia began his battle for the closure of mental institutions, real prison that denied dignity to those who were not cured but imprisoned, an important contribution to the success of the law that bears his name was constituted by that small but intense book published by Einaudi in 1969 characterized by the beautiful title Morire di classe that Carla Cerati signed with Gianni Berengo Gardin. The close shot on the faces of people to whom no one gave attention indicates the desire to establish a contact to give them back that dignity every day trampled on. The framing that crosses the subjects gives to the picture a dynamism that seems to indicate hope. When, on the other hand, Carla Cerati begins to question herself about the female body (the volume Corpo di donna will be published by Mazzotta in 1978) what interests her is to investigate forms, to chase lines, to try to sublimate the traditional concept of femininity in a research that becomes almost abstract. Continuing her research she arrives, as in this case, to expertly use the contrasts of black and white to arrive at a seductive harmony.   

Condition report

To request a Condition Report, please contact fotografia@finarte.it The department will provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Please note that what Finarte declares with respect to the state of conservation of the objects corresponds only to a qualified opinion and that we are not professional conservators or restorers. We urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. We always suggest prospective buyers to inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition during the exhibition days as indicated in the catalog.

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