Doisneau arrives at the Museum of Genius – Rome – Arte.it

Roma – Love and freedom. But also children’s games, small moments from everyday life, Parisian insights, creating a fascinating visual story that comes to life in the spaces of the Museo del Genio in Rome.
More than 140 photographs by Robert Doisneau arrive in the capital to trace the entire career of one of the most important exponents of so-called French humanist photography, from his beginnings in the 1930s to his more mature works. Poetic, sometimes ironic images invite you to observe the world with curious eyes and find beauty even in the simplest gestures.
The exhibition, simply titled “Doisneau”, curated by the Atelier Robert Doisneau and Gabriele Accornero, produced and organized by Arthemisia and open to visitors from March 5 to July 19, invites you to share the “lateral”, discreet, never intrusive gaze with which the master of photography observes Paris and its inhabitants, in search of the truth of a moment.
In his images, the world takes shape as he would have liked: more human, friendlier, more attentive to others.
Because Doisneau spoke of photographing as if he were in a “battle against the idea that we are destined to disappear,” each shot becomes a tool to freeze time and preserve what is fragile and passing quickly.
Photography thus becomes a tool to hold on to life, even if only for a moment. In addition to everyday life and the unknown protagonists of the street, there is no shortage of great names from the twentieth century, from Pablo Picasso to Alberto Giacometti, from Jean Cocteau to Fernand Léger and Georges Braque, to film and fashion figures such as Brigitte Bardot, Elsa Schiaparelli and Juliette Binoche.
Robert Doisneau, The kiss of the town hall, 1950, Fine art stamp on paper with original negative silver, 40 x 50 cm © Atelier Robert Doisneau

The famous kiss that has become legendary is not overlooked in the exhibition, which is staged near the Hôtel de Ville, through a choreography recreated with naturalness to recover the essence of an authentic moment and tell the story of love in post-war Paris: a city that came back to life, smiled, breathed lightness. Published in 1950 in small format in service of To livethe photo did not immediately become an icon. Its consecration would not take place until the 1970s.
The exhibition in the Museo del Genio also aims to commemorate a special year for the history of photography. It was 1826 when Joseph Nicéphore Niépce took the first photograph in history, known as “View from the Window on Le Gras”. 200 years after the birth of photography as an expressive and documentary tool, the exhibition dedicated to Doisneau is an opportunity to rediscover the vision of a master who managed to transform everyday life into visual poetry, through shots that can describe society by stimulating curiosity and artistic reflection.