Curated by: Francisco Medail
In this edition, Pinta BAphoto pays tribute to Anatole Saderman (Moscow, 1904 – Buenos Aires, 1993), whose work transformed Argentine photography by combining technical rigor with poetic sensibility. His portraits and visual studies of artists and writers created a body of work that continues to influence contemporary photography both locally and internationally.
Anatole Saderman was born in Moscow in 1904. In 1918, his family emigrated and settled in Berlin, where Anatole studied Slavic philology, art history, and drawing. Pressured by the economic crisis, they left Europe for South America. When embarking, his father gave him his first camera. In 1926, Anatole settled in Montevideo, where he met Nicolás Yarovoff, a Russian photographer who became his mentor. A few years later, he reunited with his family in Asunción, where he opened his first studio: Foto Electra.
In 1932, he permanently moved to Buenos Aires. In 1934, he opened his studio on Callao Street. He illustrated Maravillas de nuestras plantas indígenas and held his first solo exhibition at Amigos del Arte. He became connected with local artists and intellectuals and affirmed his focus on portraiture. In 1937, he participated in the International Salon of the Foto Club Argentino, and a year later he presented the exhibition Portraits of Argentine Visual Artists at the Sociedad Estímulo de Bellas Artes.
He was a founding member of the Asociación de Fotógrafos Profesionales, the Foto Club Argentino, and the Foto Club Buenos Aires. In the 1950s, he participated in the Carpeta de los Diez.
In 1960, the Fondo Nacional de las Artes acquired about 300 portraits of Argentine artists by Saderman for its collection, and in 1961 he held his first retrospective exhibition. He moved to Rome for two years, where he photographed urban landscapes. He incorporated the 35mm camera and exhibited his portraits of Italian visual artists and intellectuals at the Galleria La Nuova Pesa in Rome.
In 1966, he reopened his studio in Buenos Aires on San Martín Street. He held several exhibitions in Argentina and participated in the International Salon of Photography in Singapore. In 1974, he settled in Santiago del Estero and published the book Portraits and Self-Portraits. In the 1980s, he exhibited in Barcelona and Valencia. He was named "Honorary Member" of the Foto Club Buenos Aires and received the "Diploma al Mérito" in photography from the Konex Foundation. He passed away in Buenos Aires in November 1993, just a few months shy of his 90th birthday.
Francisco Medail (Entre Ríos, 1991) is an artist and curator specialized in photography. He holds a degree in Cultural Management (UNDAV) and is a candidate for a master's degree in Argentine and Latin American Art History (UNSAM). He has had solo exhibitions in museums and galleries in Argentina and artistic residencies in Paris (Cité Internationale des Arts, 2018) and Sao Paulo (Fonte, 2018). His work is part of public and private collections, including the National Museum of Fine Arts, the Emilio Caraffa Provincial Museum, the Larivière Foundation and the Getty Research Institute. Between 2015 and 2020 he was artistic director of the BAphoto art fair. He currently directs Pretéritos Imperfectos, a collection of theoretical books on Argentine photography, and serves as curator at the Centro Cultural Kirchner. He lives and works in Buenos Aires, his work is represented by Rolf Art gallery.