Pubblicato da ArtsLife
24 febbraio 2026
Scritto da Daniela Izzi

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Marco Glaviano Angie, 1998

The Galleria Cavour, in the halls of Palazzo Vassè Pietramellara, is hosting an exhibition dedicated to master photographer Marco Glaviano.

Until April 4, Galleria Cavour, located in the rooms of Palazzo Vassè Pietramellara and owned by patron Gioia Martini, is presenting an exhibition devoted to the master photographer Marco Glaviano. A witness to and leading figure of the international scene between photography, fashion, and glamour, Glaviano redefined the visual codes of the female body, creating a new collective imagery that blends beauty and sensuality.

Biography and Artistic Experience

Glaviano was born in Palermo in 1942. He studied architecture, and during that period he began developing an interest in photography. In those same years, he also worked in theater as a scenographer and set designer, and joined a jazz music group — another of his great passions.

In 1967, he decided to move first to Rome and then permanently to Milan, where he began working for major fashion magazines such as Vogue Italia. His reputation grew first across Europe and then internationally, so much so that in 1975 he moved to New York, a vibrant city where he became part of the creative circles surrounding Studio 54 and Andy Warhol’s Factory.

Marco Glaviano Liskula Cohen (New York), 2011

It was his exclusive contract with Harper’s Bazaar, from 1982 to 1994, that established him as one of the most influential photographers in the fashion industry and led him to work with John Casablancas, founder of Elite, the agency of the super top models. Thanks to him, models such as Cindy Crawford, Eva Herzigová, Paulina Porizkova, and a very young Naomi Campbell were discovered and brought into the spotlight.

His exclusive work on swimsuit calendars helped shape a new ideal of physical beauty and sensuality — both cool and captivating at the same time. In 1995, Glaviano founded PIER 59 STUDIOS and became a pioneer of digital photography, being the very first photographer to publish digitally as early as 1982.

This success encouraged his involvement in other fields such as advertising, with major brands seeking him out for their campaigns, eventually leading him to create and direct short films about music, fashion, and beauty around the world.

To date, 13 photography books have been published featuring his work — prestigious catalogues that have become collectors’ items — and his works have been exhibited in museums and private collections in many different places.

His three daughters have carried on his legacy, and in particular his daughter Alessia Glaviano has followed in his artistic footsteps as Head of Global PhotoVogue and director of the PhotoVogue Festival.

The master photographer continues to live and work between Milan and New York.

Marco Glaviano Costa Smeralda, 2005

Nearly 100 Works on Display: Women, Fashion, Glamour, and Untouched Nature

The exhibition, curated by Gaetano La Mantia, retraces the most recognizable aspects of Glaviano’s artistic research: the sculptural treatment of the body through light, the constant dialogue between form and space, and the worlds of fashion and the female image, which in his photographs become gesture, action, and performance.

The works do not merely represent or describe reality; rather, they construct an identity, transforming the body into a visual event. The curatorial approach focuses not only on the iconic quality of the images — many of them recognizable from famous advertising campaigns — but also on the creative process behind them, highlighting the relationship between photographer and subject, built on complete trust and mutual understanding.

Women are always portrayed as conscious subjects, endowed with energy and determination, playing an active role in the creation of the image.

“Beauty is like music,” says Glaviano. “In the end, music is made of three chords — from Bach onward, even fewer. And with these three chords, extraordinary things have been created. It is harmony, mathematics; ultimately everything comes down to mathematics. They are equations that work well together, and therefore appeal to human beings, who naturally and evolutionarily seek harmony. When these things come together, they create a beautiful image, a beautiful person — but these elements must come together; it is not enough simply to be beautiful.”

Marco Glaviano Olga Serova (St Barth), 2006

The dialogue between the body and the environment is a defining characteristic of the Sicilian master’s approach to fashion photography. Untouched locations — above all the island of St. Barth, with its wild nature, protected parks, pristine beaches, and refined, glamorous nightlife — provide the ideal settings. Even today, his works are exhibited in galleries on the island, such as Space Gallery St Barth.

The exhibition design also included the presence of some of the plants used in the photographs on display. This required extensive study and considerable effort, but it reinforced the idea of creating an installation that resembled an actual photographic set.

Models and Sources of Inspiration: Friendship with Helmut Newton

Alongside ideal masters such as Richard Avedon and Irving Penn, one especially significant encounter marked both Glaviano’s personal and professional journey: his friendship with Helmut Newton, a central figure in twentieth-century photography.

According to Glaviano himself, Newton was “one of the photographers who most accompanied my artistic growth. We had a relationship that was sometimes good and sometimes less good, depending on his mood swings and mine.”

Marco Glaviano Patty (California), 1988

A dialogue that began in Milan in 1968 and developed through the exchange between two similar yet complementary visions, united by a rigorous and radical conception of the image and of the body speaking through the photographic lens.

It is no coincidence that the connection with Newton closely links the two masters to the city of Bologna. Twenty-five years ago, a solo exhibition by Helmut Newton was held at Villa Impero, where SUMO — the monumental volume published by Taschen — was presented. Now also featured in this exhibition, the book redefined the boundaries of photographic publishing, transforming a book into an iconic object, a sculpture, and a cultural manifesto.

In addition to historical editorial materials and audiovisual content, the exhibition includes a cinema room showing original period video footage, as well as an unpublished photographic portrait of Glaviano taken by Newton in 1972 (from the Helmut Newton Foundation), displayed publicly for the first time.

The Polaroids

Alongside the large-format works, the exhibition presents fifty-four Polaroids, evidence of a more direct, immediate, and instinctive form of photography.

The Polaroids reveal themselves as a true visual laboratory and personal diary — a tool of freedom, a pure intuition, and an instant verification capable of exposing the creative process in its most authentic form.

Thanks to this medium, the distance between subject and photographer, creator and artwork, is reduced, increasing their sense of closeness and intimacy.

Marco Glaviano Kirsten Allen (Moustique), 1988

A fully functioning darkroom, along with the opportunity for visitors to experience analog printing on traditional photographic paper, offers a chance to understand how images were created before the digital era, rediscovering the value of time and the quality of printmaking.

The exhibition project is supported by the Italian Ministry of Education and Merit (MIM) and involves the Academy of Fine Arts of Bologna, the “Augusto Righi” Scientific High School, and the “Arcangeli” Art High School of Bologna.

The initiative aims to encourage research and direct engagement with contemporary photographic works.

Marco Glaviano Lisa Berkley (Southampton), 1990