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Photographs: ITALIAN ICONS

Wednesday 18 June 2025, 04:00 PM • Milan

77

Ferdinando Scianna

(1943)

Marpessa, late 1980s

Artist's Resale Right

Estimate

€ 1.000 - 1.500

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Information

Vintage gelatin silver print
cm 30 x 23,8 (cm 29 x 20 picture) | 11.8 x 9.3 in. (11.4 x 7.8 in. picture)
Signed in black felt pen on the white recto margin
Ferdinando Scianna (Bagheria, Palermo 1943) has always been guided a little by chance, as when in 1963 Leonardo Sciascia visited and appreciated his first exhibition, and a lot by determination, which pushed him to introduce himself to the writer who would become his great friend and shortly thereafter the extender of the text for “ Feste religiose in Sicilia,” the first of the many beloved books he would publish. Turning professional, for L' Europeo he was a correspondent in Paris where he met Cartier-Bresson, who introduced him to Magnum, of which he became a member in 1989. Always working in black and white, he combines magnificent reportages and appreciated portraits of great intellectuals with his collaboration with Dolce and Gabbana: he thus also established himself in the fashion world by publishing in Vogue and Grazia. 

When Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana founded the fashion house that had their names on it in 1985, they could count on a modest budget but deeply innovative ideas. Two years later, for the advertising campaign of their first catalog they involved model Marpessa Hennink, who agreed to work for free and do her own makeup, and Ferdinando Scianna to evoke the Mediterranean roots that inspired the collection. It was his Sicily that was the ideal set in which they shot photographs that mixed the charm of reportage dear to the photographer and the subtle mystery that emanated from the model. Her face framed by her hair falling in a messy way occupies the upper part of the image, and the shot from bottom is emphasized by her upward gaze: in this way Scianna transforms the Dutch girl into an icon of Sicilian-ness. This is even more evident in the very famous image where four simply dressed commoners and the model who stands out by moving her feet in a vexatious posture are placed side by side against the background of a white wall in a deliberate and emphasized contrast. 

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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