Biographical notes

Ugo Zovetti (Curzola, 1916-Milan, 2010), son of art – Zovetti’s father was one of the greatest exponents of the Viennese Secession - he began photographing in the 1940s, documenting the city of Milan, from destruction to post-war reconstruction. His photographs are rigorous and at the same time they immediately transcend the place to become icons that symbolize contemporaneity. Zovetti was interested in issues related to human affairs, all deepened and participated with emotion. He took part into the Gruppo fotografico del Naviglio and he worked a lot to spread Italian photography in Europe. Over the years he has also collaborated with the magazine Magnum (Cologne, Germany). He has been honoured with numerous awards and he was appreciated abroad since the 1960s – Ugo Zovetti is Excellence FIAP since 1958 – and he spent a working season in London. Zovetti participated in numerous competitions and exhibitions; between 1960 and 1965 he was sworn for the Italian Federazione Italiana Associazioni Fotografiche (FIAF), actively and critically intervening in the debate of the time. The Seventies saw him devoting himself especially to painting, but then returned to his Milan with the Rolleiflex 6x6 around his neck: “The images jump on me”, he said. In 1997 he published the volume Monte Stella, Fumagalli editions, dedicated to the Milan of reconstruction, with a text by Marco Meneguzzo. Photographs by Zovetti were exhibited in 2004 in the exhibition Gli anni della Dolce vita in Turin and in 2005 in Anni Cinquanta at Palazzo Reale in Milan. Two anthological exhibitions were held in Italy in 2006 and 2007: the first one was at the Urban Center in Monza, while the other one was at the Rocca Sforzesca in Soncino (Cremona). In 2008 ADMIRA presented the exhibition Metamofosi di una città. Milano 1958 – 2008 at the CMC, Cultural Center of Milan, accompanied by the book curated by Enrica Viganò and published by ADMIRA Edizioni for the series I Quaderni Del CMC.

Ugo Zovetti has always personally printed his black and white prints, even in large format.

A selection of his photographs is included in the international touring exhibition nd in the book NeoRealismo. La nuova immagine in Italia 1932-1960, published in Italian editions (Admira Edizioni, 2006), Spanish (La Fábrica Editorial, 2007), German (Christoph Merian Verlag / Fotomuseum Winterthur, 2007) and English (DelMonico Books•Prestel / Admira Edizioni, 2018).

Between 2002 and 2004 a conspicuous nucleus of his vintage works is acquired from US museum collections and some of his prints are included in the recent acquisition by Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

All images © Eredi Ugo Zovetti.