Ugo Mulas

Who was Ugo Mulas?

Ugo Mulas was an Italian photographer noted for his portraits of artists and his street photography.

Ugo Mulas began his studies in law in 1948 in Milan, but left to take art courses at the Brera Fine Arts Academy. In 1954 he was asked to cover the Venice Biennale, his first professional assignment. He went on to photograph every Venice Biennale through 1972 and to document his work in an art book.

Mulas worked for a number of Italian magazines and did commercial work for advertising campaigns including clients such as Pirelli and Olivetti. In 1959 in Florence, Mulas discovered Veruschka who later became a well-known model and artist. While covering the Spoleto Festival in 1962, Mulas befriended sculptor Alexander Calder, who later became a major subject of Mulas photography and writings.

While photographing the 1964 Venice Biennale, Mulas met several American artists, art critics, and the art dealer Leo Castelli. This meeting led to his travel to New York City and his documentation of the Pop art scene. This trip to New York and Mulas' resulting book and exhibits, New York, the New Art Scene became Mulas' best known work. The exhibit included enlargements of Mulas' contact sheets and environmental portraits of Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, Barnett Newman and Roy Lichtenstein.