Robert Polidori

  • Biography
    View works. Robert Polidori, Enfilade 3 / Aile de Nord, Premier Etage, Salles du XVIIème, Versailles, 2018
    Enfilade 3 / Aile de Nord, Premier Etage, Salles du XVIIème, Versailles, 2018
    View works
    Born in  Montreal, Canada, 1951
    Lives & Works in Ojai, California
    Download Artist CV (PDF, opens in a new tab.)
    Download Selected Press (PDF, opens in a new tab.)
  • "I’m interested in habitat as a psychological force. What interests me is what human beings do to architecture. How they use it and how it shapes them." —Robert Polidori
  • Robert Polidori is a widely acclaimed photographer, most immediately recognized for his career-spanning work at the Château de Versailles, as...
    Robert Polidori is a widely acclaimed photographer, most immediately recognized for his career-spanning work at the Château de Versailles, as well as his photographs of the fading grandeur of Havana and the devastating destruction of New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. His “Dendritic Cities” captures the rampant and spectacular growth that has appeared in the last decades in cities such as Amman, Mumbai and Rio de Janeiro. Photographs from Hotel Petra illustrate how human interventions and the passing of time are inscribed on the surfaces of walls, and the rooms themselves bear witness to their history. His most recent photographs from the Convento di San Marco in Florence capture the solemnity and sheer force of the 15th Century frescos by Fra Angelico. 

    Polidori was a recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship for photography in 2020. In 1998, Polidori won the World Press Award, he has twice won the Alfred Eisenstaedt Award for Magazine Photography (1999 and 2000), and was a staff photographer for The New Yorker from 1998–2006. He has published over 15 photo books with Steidl, such as Hotel Petra (2016) and 60 Feet Road (2016), which follow the three-volume compilation of his pictures of Versailles, Parcours Muséologique Revisité (2009). In 2022-23, Polidori was subject to a solo exhibition at the New Orleans Museum of Art. Additional major solo exhibitions include a mid-career retrospective at the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal, Fotografias at the Instituto Moreira Salles, and After the Flood at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2006. His work is held innumerous collections, including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, and the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris.
  • Works
    • Robert Polidori, Enfilade 3 / Aile de Nord, Premier Etage, Salles du XVIIème, Versailles, 2018
      Enfilade 3 / Aile de Nord, Premier Etage, Salles du XVIIème, Versailles, 2018
      Inquire
    • Robert Polidori, Basket of figs, Villa Poppaea, Oplontis, Italia, 2017
      Basket of figs, Villa Poppaea, Oplontis, Italia, 2017
      Inquire
    • Robert Polidori, Bird and figs fresco panel, Villa Poppaea, Oplontis, Italia, 2017
      Bird and figs fresco panel, Villa Poppaea, Oplontis, Italia, 2017
      Inquire
    • Robert Polidori, Villa dei Misteri, Detail #2, Pompeii, 2017
      Villa dei Misteri, Detail #2, Pompeii, 2017
      Inquire
    • Robert Polidori, Crucifixion with the Virgin and Sts Cosmas, John the Evangelist and Peter Martyr by Fra Angelico #2, Cell 38, Museum of San Marco Convent, Florence, Italy, 2010
      Crucifixion with the Virgin and Sts Cosmas, John the Evangelist and Peter Martyr by Fra Angelico #2, Cell 38, Museum of San Marco Convent, Florence, Italy, 2010
      Inquire
    • Robert Polidori, Hotel Petra #12, Beirut, Lebanon, 2010
      Hotel Petra #12, Beirut, Lebanon, 2010
      Inquire
    • Robert Polidori, Hotel Petra #4, Beirut, Lebanon, 2010
      Hotel Petra #4, Beirut, Lebanon, 2010
      Inquire
    • Robert Polidori, Hotel Petra #6, Beirut, Lebanon, 2010
      Hotel Petra #6, Beirut, Lebanon, 2010
      Inquire
    • Robert Polidori, The Capture of Christ by Fra Angelico, Cell 33, Museum of San Marco Convent, Florence, Italy, 2010
      The Capture of Christ by Fra Angelico, Cell 33, Museum of San Marco Convent, Florence, Italy, 2010
      Inquire
    • Robert Polidori, The Mocking of Christ by Fra Angelico, Cell 7, Museum of San Marco Convent, Florence, Italy, 2010
      The Mocking of Christ by Fra Angelico, Cell 7, Museum of San Marco Convent, Florence, Italy, 2010
      Inquire
    • Robert Polidori, Master plate 4, 60-Feet Road, Dharavi, Mumbai, India, 2008
      Master plate 4, 60-Feet Road, Dharavi, Mumbai, India, 2008
      Inquire
    • Robert Polidori, L'Orangerie interior, green carpet #1, Château de Versailles, France, 2007
      L'Orangerie interior, green carpet #1, Château de Versailles, France, 2007
      Inquire
    • Robert Polidori, Napoléon reçoit l'ambassadeur de Perse à Finkenstein, 27 avril 1807, MV 1724, by François-Henri Mulard, 1810. AMI.04.001, Attique du Midi, Aile du Midi - Attique, Château de Versailles, Versailles, France, 2005
      Napoléon reçoit l'ambassadeur de Perse à Finkenstein, 27 avril 1807, MV 1724, by François-Henri Mulard, 1810. AMI.04.001, Attique du Midi, Aile du Midi - Attique, Château de Versailles, Versailles, France, 2005
      Inquire
    • Robert Polidori, House of Amelia Pelaez, Estrada Palma 261, Vibora, Cuba, 2001
      House of Amelia Pelaez, Estrada Palma 261, Vibora, Cuba, 2001
      Inquire
    • Robert Polidori, Señora Faxas Residence, No.4, 2 #318 (at the corner of Avenida 5ta.), Miramar, Havana, Cuba, 1997
      Señora Faxas Residence, No.4, 2 #318 (at the corner of Avenida 5ta.), Miramar, Havana, Cuba, 1997
      Inquire
    • Robert Polidori, Escalier de L'Opéra Royal, ANR.02.066, Aile du Nord - R.d.C, Château de Versailles, Versailles, France, 1988
      Escalier de L'Opéra Royal, ANR.02.066, Aile du Nord - R.d.C, Château de Versailles, Versailles, France, 1988
      Inquire
  • Exhibitions
  • News
  • contact_form

    Send me more information on Robert Polidori

    Please fill in the fields marked with an asterisk
    Receive newsletters *

    * denotes required fields

    In order to respond to your enquiry, we will process the personal data you have supplied in accordance with our privacy policy (available on request). You can unsubscribe or change your preferences at any time by clicking the link in our emails.

  • Explore