Paolo di Paolo came in Rome last month to open his exhibition called “Mondo Perduto”,at the Maxxi Museum in via Guido Reni. “Mondo Perduto” means “Lost Word”. In his early years he has been a photographer of the magazine Il Mondo. He published there about 573 pictures reporting on Italy but he has been a great photographer also around the world. He portrayed actors such as Marcello Mastroianni, Anna Magnani and Sophia Loren, artists like De Chirico, writers like Pier Paolo Pasolini and Oriana Fallaci.
You have to take at least one hour to look through this sample of Italy. The photos were generally shot in the Fifties and Sixties. You will switch from Lucio Fontana at the Biennale to Carla Accardi in Rome. You will also notice Mimmo Rotella creating one of his decollage in Piazza del Popolo but also Simone Signoret and Yves Montand walking on the Aventino Hill.
The exhibition is sponsored by Gucci and features more than 250 images many of which unseen. They are part of an enormous archive found by the daughter of Paolo di Paolo, Silvia in a cellar around twenty years ago.
