Franco took pleasure in weaving his family into specific personalized greeting cards or projects for Alfieri & Lacroix. Yet, he did it with a touch of subtlety, rendering them nearly imperceptible, much in the manner of his unobtrusive signature on advertisements.
Within these images, you can discern the silhouettes or names of Jeanne, Franco, Daniela, and Manuela Grignani, carefully tucked away in the upper or central regions of the primary image:
He often featured his first daughter, Daniela, as a subject in various photo experiments and advertising campaigns during the 1950s and 1960s. Daniela’s early foray into modeling began when she was just a baby, appearing in an advertisement for Montecatini. By the age of 6 or 7, she was posing for Mondadori editions. Her schoolmates were captivated by the unique effect of these photos, and they eagerly requested Franco to photograph them as well. With immense patience, he accommodated all their requests. In a relatively short span of time, Daniela evolved into an iconic figure for Franco Grignani. So much so that the renowned philosopher and close friend, Marshall McLuhan (whom they met at the first World Congress on New Challenges to Human Communication, ‘Vision 65‘, in Carbondale, Illinois), would often mention her, as recounted by Grignani: “Every time we met he said to me: what a beautiful daughter, she seems a Modigliani”.
Italo Lupi, the Art Director of the Italian magazine ‘Abitare’, paid a special tribute to Daniela by featuring her on the cover of issue n° 398 in September 2000. Remarkably, the magazine was released precisely on her birthday:
Eventually, the second daughter, Manuela, appears in these images:
[*] courtesy of Daniela Grignani
[a] courtesy of Alexander Tochilovsky, curator at Herb Lubalin Study Center
[1] graphéine
[3] CAST, courtesy of Alessandro Colizzi
[5] Veder bene, courtesy of Bonifacio Pontonio
[7] AIAP / CDPG Centro di Documentazione sul Progetto Grafico, courtesy of Lorenzo Grazzani
[30] Archivio Fotografico Il Ponte Casa d’Aste, courtesy of Paola Colombo
[35] Design is fine, courtesy of Andrea Riegel
[45] WestLicht Auction
Last Updated on 12/10/2023 by Emiliano