Galleria Luxardo

The story of the Luxardo family began in the early 20th century when the young photographer Alfredo Luxardo decided to leave Pisa to set his lens on distant objects: America. Alfredo, together with his wife Margherita, however, stopped in San Paolo in Brazil - a country that would mark the destiny of the entire Luxardo family. Not the American myth but the Amazonian tribes became his subjects: group photos and portraits developed and printed in a completely empirical way. His three children were born in Brazil: Elio, Elda and Aldo. In 1928 Alfredo Luxardo returned to Italy where he took over the Sam Bosch photographic studio in Rome. (photographers of the Royal House) in Via XX Settembre. It was here that the history of the Rome-Luxardo association began. Elio, who had enrolled at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia, Aldo and his daughter Elda all worked in their father's studio. It was the 1930s and the famous studio in Via del Tritone imposed characteristics that set the standard and marked an era. Diffuse lighting, complemented by reflections, dark backgrounds and cuts of light that sculpted faces and designed bodies: in a word, the Myth of Beauty was born, the cult of the Body. The studio was populated by divas and sports champions, intellectuals and artists, from Pirandello to Marinetti, from Assia Noris to Isa Miranda, from Valentina Cortese to Alida Valli and world champion Primo Carnera. The post-war period was characterised by collaboration with revue shows and then the start of the Miss Italy contest, which attracted divas such as Loren and Lollobrigida. La Dolce Vita - Elio Luxardo's intense friendship with Federico Fellini - , the films "Poveri ma Belli" (Poor but Beautiful), actors such as Mastroianni and Gassmann: these are the images of the Sixties. Elio Luxardo's last dream was called Sperlonga, where he retired to live. On the Mediterranean coast, the photographer sought the light and colours of his native land, but in vain. He died in 1969 at the age of 59. His brother Aldo continued to work alone in the family studio - which his sister Elda had left when she married the producer Argento, father of the director Dario. But the call of his homeland grew stronger and stronger and finally Aldo decided to return to Brazil.