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BIOGRAPHY

RIZZO Willy

Willy Rizzo was born in 1928 in Naples. His family moved to Paris when he was still a child. He showed an early interest in photography and bought his first Rolleiflex at the age of 16. After photographing all the French cinema stars in the studios of Billancourt, Joinville, and Buttes-Chaumont, he was hired in 1945 as a reporter for the magazine Point de Vue. In 1946, he was recruited by the weekly France Dimanche, which specialized in reporting on the private lives of celebrities, and was sent to Cannes to cover the first festival.

In 1947, he went to the United States for the Blackstar agency and discovered California, where he conducted numerous reports on Hollywood stars such as Gregory Peck, Richard Widmark, Gary Cooper, and Joan Crawford.

In 1949, he learned that Jean Prouvost was launching a new magazine in Paris and returned to France because he wanted to be part of the adventure. Paris Match, with the slogan "The Weight of Words, the Shock of Photos," was launched, and Willy Rizzo signed the first color cover with a photograph of Winston Churchill. During the 1950s, he also worked for prestigious fashion houses like Chanel and Dior. He developed a friendship with Coco Chanel, for whom he created some iconic portraits. In 1959, he became the artistic director of Marie-Claire and collaborated with magazines like Vogue and Harper's Bazaar. His photographs of stars, artists, and political figures became iconic.

In 1968, he left Paris and moved to Rome with his wife, actress Elsa Martinelli. Feeling that “Scandinavian furniture was neither comfortable nor luxurious enough,” he began designing and creating contemporary furniture and lighting for their apartment. His friends from the world of cinema and the jet-set, including Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, Salvador Dalí, Sophia Loren, and Brigitte Bardot, fell in love with these pieces and all wanted to own them. Due to high demand, Willy Rizzo established workshops outside Rome. The success was immediate, and he gradually opened stores in Paris, various European cities, as well as New York, Miami, and Los Angeles. One of the distinctive features of Willy Rizzo's furniture and lamps, always crafted from luxurious materials, is that they blend perfectly with Haute-Epoque or 18th-century pieces.

In 1978, after having returned to Paris for a few years, he went back to his first love, photography. The following year, he married Dominique Rizzo. In 2009, they opened the Studio Willy Rizzo for Design and Photography at 12 Rue de Verneuil in Paris, where he worked until his death in 2013.

THE WORKS