The Forgotten of Art. The Story of Stella Honey, the Artist Photographer Tatia Franchetti Twombly

An exhibition titled "Stella Honey" at Spazio Treccani Arte in Rome, curated by Isabella Tucci, showcases the photographic and painterly work of Luisa Tatiana Franchetti (1924–2010), an Italian aristocrat and artist who was married to the American painter Cy Twombly. The show draws on hundreds of negatives discovered by her niece Maia in an attic trunk two years ago, revealing intimate portraits of Twombly, family members, and friends, as well as landscapes from Italy, the Middle East, Greece, Egypt, and Mexico. Franchetti, known as Tatia, was also a painter, but her photography—characterized by a keen eye for detail, light, and composition—had remained largely unseen during her lifetime.

This exhibition matters because it brings to light a previously overlooked body of work by a woman artist who operated in the shadow of her famous husband, Cy Twombly. The discovery of her archive offers a fresh, personal perspective on post-war Italy and the international art scene, and challenges the traditional narrative that relegated her to the role of muse rather than creator. By recovering Franchetti's visual legacy, the show contributes to the ongoing re-evaluation of women artists who were historically marginalized or forgotten.