Giuseppe Cavalli

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Wikipedia

Giuseppe Cavalli (29 November 1904 – 25 October 1961) was an Italian photographer, little known outside his native country.[1] His work had a "simple, quiet aesthetic"[1] and he was "best known for his ‘high-key’ style, characterised by the use of bright, even lighting to minimise shadow."[1] Cavalli was a joint founder of the photography group La Bussola (The Compass) in 1947.[2] He also formed the photography group Misa in 1953.

Life and work

Cavalli was born in 1904, in Lucera in Italy’s southern Apulia region.[1] He practised as a lawyer until 1935.[1] After purchasing his first camera, in 1939 he settled in the seaside town of Senigallia on the Adriatic coast and devoted himself to photography.[1]

With Luigi Veronesi and others he founded the photography group La Bussola (It) (The Compass) in 1947, and singularly he founded the photography group Misa in 1953.[1][3][4] Mario Giacomelli, whom Cavalli influenced, was an early member of Misa.[1][4] Cavalli wrote essays about Bussola's aesthetic that were published in Italian photographic journals, and promoted photography exhibitions and competitions.[1]

Cavalli died in Senigallia in 1961 at the age of fifty-seven.[1]

Publications

  • Giuseppe Cavalli. Fotografie 1936-1961. Rome: Gangemi. ISBN 978-8849209860. Italian. "Catalog of an exhibition held Apr. 8-May 31, 2006 at the Museo di Roma-Palazzo Braschi, Rome, Italy."[5]
  • Giuseppe Cavalli: Nature Morte. Milan: Baldini Castoldi Dalai, 2009. ISBN 9788860731937. Edited by Angela Madesani. Texts in Italian and English.[6]
  • Giuseppe Cavalli: Photographs (with Martin Harrison), published by Faggionato Fine Arts, London.[7]

Collection

In late 2025, five items of Cavalli's work are held in the following permanent collection:

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Giuseppe Cavalli". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  2. ↑ "Giuseppe Cavalli: Master of Light". Studio International. Retrieved November 20, 2025.
  3. ↑ Lewis, Emma. "Italian Modernist Photography". Tate. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  4. 1 2 Lynne Warren (2005). Encyclopedia of Twentieth-Century Photography. Routledge. p. 602. ISBN 9781135205430.
  5. ↑ "Giuseppe Cavalli: fotografie 1936-1961" WorldCat. Accessed 8 October 2016
  6. ↑ "Giuseppe Cavalli. Nature morte. Ediz. italiana e inglese". Amazon. Retrieved November 20, 2025.
  7. ↑ "Giuseppe Cavalli: Photographs". ABE Books. Retrieved November 20, 2025.
  8. ↑ "Giuseppe Cavalli 1904-1961". Tate. Retrieved 2 December 2025.