Lawrence Ferlinghetti Exhibition Opens in Brescia
In Brescia, Italy, an exhibition showcases the life of Lawrence Ferlinghetti (1919–2021), renowned Beat poet, publisher, painter, and civil rights advocate. This display includes photographs, first editions, typescripts, and Ferlinghetti's artwork, which has never been shown in Italy before. His formative years were marked by a challenging upbringing, a journalism degree, military service during WWII, and a Master of Arts from Columbia University. In 1947, he relocated to Paris, where he earned a PhD in modern poetry from the Sorbonne. After returning to the US in 1951, he established City Lights Bookshop in 1953 and City Lights Booksellers & Publishers in 1955, releasing Allen Ginsberg's "Howl" in 1956. Curated by Niccolò Lucarelli, the exhibition emphasizes his connections to Italy.
Key facts
- Exhibition in Brescia covers Ferlinghetti's life as poet, publisher, painter, and activist.
- Ferlinghetti served in WWII, participating in Operation Overlord and visiting Nagasaki.
- He earned a PhD in modern poetry from the Sorbonne in Paris.
- Opened City Lights Bookshop in San Francisco in 1953 and publishing house in 1955.
- Published Allen Ginsberg's 'Howl' in 1956, leading to an obscenity trial; acquitted.
- Ferlinghetti's Italian father Carlo Leopoldo Ferlinghetti was born in Brescia in 1872.
- Friendship with Fernanda Pivano and Ettore Sottsass; Sottsass's photos are in the show.
- Ferlinghetti's paintings are exhibited in Italy for the first time.
- Read with Ezra Pound in Spoleto (1965) and at Castel Porziano (1979).
- Published Pasolini's poems in English translation in 1986.
Entities
Artists
- Lawrence Ferlinghetti
- Allen Ginsberg
- Ezra Pound
- Pier Paolo Pasolini
- Fernanda Pivano
- Ettore Sottsass
- Niccolò Lucarelli
Institutions
- City Lights Bookshop
- City Lights Booksellers & Publishers
- Columbia University
- Sorbonne
- FBI
Locations
- Brescia
- Italy
- New York
- San Francisco
- Paris
- Normandy
- Nagasaki
- Spoleto
- Castel Porziano