The exhibition Emanuele Cavalli and the Roman School: through the archives , curated by Manuel Carrera, which opens on Thursday 10 February at the National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art , documents a crucial period in the history of twentieth century art, that of Italy between the two wars, through the gaze of one of its protagonists: Emanuele Cavalli (Lucera 1904 - Florence 1981). Author together with Giuseppe Capogrossi and Roberto Melli of the "Manifesto of Plastic Primordialism", the painter and photographer with his tonal painting became the interpreter of a new way of understanding figuration that marked an era.

The recent donation of his archive to the National Gallery by his daughter Maria Letizia offers an unprecedented glimpse into his artistic and human universe, studded with intertwining with some of the most influential personalities of his time. Diaries, letters and documents tell of the partnership with - among others - Felice Carena, Fausto Pirandello, Giuseppe Capogrossi, Corrado Cagli, Roberto Melli : the protagonists, that is, of the so-called " Roman School ", a definition coined by the critic Waldemar-George in the presentation of an exhibition held in Paris in 1933 by Cavalli, Cagli, Capogrossi and Ezio Sclavi .

On display, in addition to a selection of the most significant documents from Emanuele Cavalli 's archive, some of the paintings are exhibited, of which the diaries and notes tell the long creative gestation. The evolution of Cavalli's painting is then marked in the exhibition through the comparison with masterpieces of his closest colleagues, coming from private collections and from the collections of the National Gallery . Particular attention is also dedicated to Emanuele Cavalli's activity as a photographer, including artistic photographs connected to his pictorial imagery and snapshots of everyday life with his associates as protagonists.