The Maison de la Photograhie Robert Doisneau in Gentilly, France, will present until January 27, 2013, an exhibition devoted to Émile Savitry. According to its curator Sophie Malexis, the work of Émile Savitry has been kept out of the public eye by his overprotective wife, Elsa Henriquez.

Since 1989, Sophie Malexis has been trying to work with her, to no avail. The situation improved when her son Paco helped sort some things out, resulting in a few books and a collection of letters sharing, “memories from the lives of four bohemians: Émile Savitry, Elsa Henriquez, Helba Huara and Gonzalo More.”

Born in Saigon in 1903 into a wealthy and cultured family with a great interest in art, Savitry, “had several strings to his bow, but what he didn’t care about was success,” according to Claude Roy, writing in 1972. That might explain why Savitry’s work has remained for so long in the shadows.

Read the full text of this article by Bernard Perrine in the French version of Le Journal.

Exhibition

Émile Savitry, un photographe de Montparnasse
Until January 27th, 2013
Maison de la photographie Robert Doisneau
1, rue de la Division du Général Leclerc
94250 Gentilly - France
+33 (0) 155 01 04 86
Wednesday, friday, saturday : 12am - 7pm
Sunday 14pm - 7pm

Publication

Catalogue Émile Savitry, un photographe de Montparnasse
Photographs by Émile Savitry
Text by Sophie Malexis
Éditions 5 Continents Milan
French / Spanish
112 pages, 92 photographs