Quick Index — Core Topics

• New York City Art Deco Heritage — Core Topics
• Bugatti Archive — Photography Section
• Plastic Girls — Evolution of Style Through Mannequins
• Bugatti Automobili (1990s)
• Historical Photographic Collections

New York City Art Deco Heritage — Core Topics

A major pillar of Ikonographia is the visual heritage of New York’s Art Deco era (1925–1939).
This archive brings together original high-resolution photography of landmark interiors and sculptural programs, offering a focused and coherent view of the city’s Deco identity.

• Gilded Grilles & Sculptural Panels
Our principal focus documents the masterworks of New York’s great Deco interiors: the Fred F. French Building, the Chanin Building, the Empire State Building Lobby, 70 Pine Street, and other architecturally significant sites.
These ensembles—elevator panels, radiator grilles, ornamental friezes—represent some of the finest American metalwork of the period.

• The Bald Eagle — U.S. Symbol in NYC Art Deco
A dedicated visual series explores the eagle as a national emblem throughout New York’s 1920s–30s architecture.
Sculptural reliefs, lobby ornaments, façade elements, and decorative programs show how federal symbolism was absorbed into the Deco language.

• Mailboxes & Postal Iconography
A rare photographic study of the city’s bronze letter boxes, postal panels, and symbolic motifs.
From monumental lobby installations to finely modeled door plates, this series highlights a category of Deco design almost never documented with high-quality photography.

• Architectural Ornament & Lobby Ensembles
Complementing the major series above, this section includes mosaics, ceilings, symbolic programs, decorative motifs, and full lobby compositions—photographed with neutral light and archival accuracy.

• Looking Ahead
Additional Deco materials—posters, typography, small-scale metalwork, and graphic sources—will be introduced as complementary context to the architectural photography.

Automotive Heritage — Bugatti Archive (Photography Section) — Core Topics

Ikonographia holds one of the deepest and most coherent independent photographic archives dedicated to Bugatti. Its strength lies in direct photographic access, both in studio and on location, spanning more than twenty years.

“Divina Bugatti” — Studio Still-Life Photography
A major component of the archive consists of the studio still-life sessions created for the landmark book Divina Bugatti.
These remain some of the most artistically distinctive photographs ever produced of Bugatti automobiles—highly interpretive, sculptural, and unmistakably recognizable in their visual signature.

The Castiglione Sessions with Bugatti Owners
In addition to the Divina Bugatti sessions, the archive includes rare photograps made during the 2009 International Bugatti Centenary Meeting in Tuscany, with:

• Eight different cars from eight different owners.
• Owner interactions and contextual documentation,
• Audio recordings where the owners tell about their love story with Bugatti (unique element)

• The International Bugatti Centenary Meeting (Tuscany, 2009)
A comprehensive reportage of the event, covering:

• Over 120 Bugattis gathered together.
• Parades, and enthusiasts gatherings.
• Location photography of the cars in Tuscan landscapes and historical towns.

Some of these images are major Bugatti documents with no equivalent elsewhere.

• Molsheim Before Restoration — A Documentary Portfolio
A nostalgic photographic record of the Bugatti estate at Molsheim, captured before the extensive modern restoration.
This section includes:

• Atmospheric scenes, candid moments, historically important vehicles.
• Objects and locations that no longer exist in the same form.
• Architectural details and historic workshops.

• Graphic Materials (Separate Archive — Linked by Context) — Core Topics
The photographic archive is complemented by graphics and documents preserved in the Bugatti Automobili section:

• Factory drawings
• Catalogs and brochures
• Period illustrations and posters
• Historical photographs

Plastic Girls — Evolution of Style Through Mannequins (1976–Today) — Core Topics

Ikonographia holds one of the most long-running photographic explorations of modern mannequins and window-display culture — a body of work spanning fifty years, from early black-and-white studies to contemporary large-format images.

Rather than treating shop windows as commercial décor, this archive examines mannequins as urban iconography: symbols of beauty, consumption, identity, and the aesthetics of modern retail.

Published Series

• Early Black-and-White Works (1978–1980)
The origin of the project: atmospheric street scenes, grain, reflections, and the first encounters with mannequin “characters.”
• US Mannequins, 1980s
A vibrant portrait of American display culture — bold poses, neon colour, and the energy of 1980s retail interiors.
• Andalusian Glamorous
A lyrical photographic study of Southern Spain’s storefronts, capturing a unique mix of glamour, light, and Mediterranean theatricality.

Unpublished but Completed Collections

• Northern & Central Europe (1990s)
Strong regional contrasts in styling, materials, and display philosophies — from minimalist Scandinavia to ornate Central European design.

• Italy & Western Europe (2000s)
The rise of luxury-brand windows, increasingly sculptural mannequins, and the evolution of visual merchandising aesthetics.

• Detail Studies (2010–Today)
Large-format close-ups of hands, faces, fabrics, and materials — revealing craftsmanship, textures, and new technologies in mannequin design.

Brand Collections (Long-Term Series)

A systematic, multi-year documentation of major fashion houses, including:

• Etro (with dedicated studies of fabrics and pattern design)
• Luisa Spagnoli
• Gucci
• Dior
• Benetton
• Louis Vuitton
• and additional luxury and popular brands

These collections trace changing trends in styling, colour palettes, materials, and retail storytelling across decades.

Bugatti Automobili — Campogalliano Era (1990s) — Core Topics

A dedicated section is devoted to Bugatti Automobili and the Campogalliano era, combining
studio photography, on-track images and contextual documentation. The archive is organized into three main strands:

• EB110 Launch & Paris / Versailles Reportage — A rare analog photographic record of the official EB110 unveiling, including:
– the monumental presentation at the Arc de Triomphe
– the gala dinner at the Orangerie of Versailles
– promotional driving sessions and landmark locations in Paris and other French sites
– portraits, details, atmospheres and behind-the-scenes moments
Together, these images form one of the most complete visual documents of the EB110’s debut.

Historical Photographic Collections — Core Topics

Ikonographia also curates thematic historical sets—ranging from architecture to cultural subjects—prepared with the same editorial and archival standards seen across the platform.
Current and forthcoming collections include:

• Old and New Testament Ivories — macro photography of medieval ivory reliefs, documenting narrative cycles in exceptional detail
• Armour Portraits — the armour collection of Ferdinand von Habsburg, captured as sculptural, life-size presences
• Serge Roche — Art Deco glass, mirrors and sculptural objects from the 1930s
• Coming soon: Antonio Canova — dancers, engravings and related works

Together, these photographic archives provide a consistent visual standard: neutral light, faithful colour and high-resolution files ready for both scholarly use and high-quality reproduction.

• Editorial Standards
All photographs are produced with scholarly clarity, faithful color, and technical precision—suitable for historians, collectors, restorers, conservators, designers, and researchers.