40 Years of the Deutsche Bank Collection
Luigi Ghirri: “Porto Recanati”, 1984

Max Bill’s twisted granite sculpture “Continuity,” Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s installation "The Gates" in New York's Central Park, Cao Fei’s vision of a virtual, futuristic setting in the middle of nowhere: On a monthly basis, we show a work that represents a period of contemporary history and reflects the Deutsche Bank Collection, which is celebrating its 40th birthday this year.


Luigi Ghirri
Porto Recanati, 1984

� Eredi di Luigi Ghirri


A poetic revolutionary: With his now legendary exhibition Viaggio in Italia, Luigi Ghirri renewed Italian photography in 1984. Away from the postcard views of the “Bel paese,” from the conventional documentary black-and-white shots in the style of neorealism— that was the motto of Ghirri and his comrades-in-arms. This younger generation of Italian photo artists was interested in a new image of their country, far removed from all stereo- types. Thus, Ghirri’s subtle color photographs direct the gaze to the everyday, the peripheral, the overlooked. Most of these dense, atmospheric everyday scenes, interiors, and landscapes were created in his home region, the province of Emilia-Romagna in the north of the country.

Many of the photographers featured in Viaggio in Italia—including Gabriele Basilico, Olivo Barbieri, and Vincenzo Castella—are represented in the Deutsche Bank Collection. Their works are on view in our Milan and Rome offices. Under the title Immagini dell’Italia, the numerous photographs and works on paper that can be seen there give a multilayered, even contradictory portrait of the country.