Milton Gendel's Author Portraits at Rome's National Library

The National Library of Rome is hosting "Milton Gendel: Ritratti d'autore" from November 30, 2017, to January 26, 2018, curated by Barbara Drudi. The exhibition features 22 black-and-white photographs of Italian, English, and American writers and essayists, including Toti Scialoja, Mario Praz, Alberto Arbasino, Eugenio Scalfari, Grisha von Rezzori, and Gaia de Beaumont. Gendel, an American art historian and photographer born in New York in 1918, moved to Rome in 1949, capturing the city's vibrant cultural scene during its post-war golden age of cinema, theater, and literature. His intellectual approach to photography highlights subjects' characteristics beyond formal roles. Gendel also curated the US Pavilion at the 1977 Venice Biennale. Drudi has authored a book on Gendel titled "Uno scatto lungo un secolo." Gendel's archive comprises nearly 72,000 images.