By Massimo Vitali
Located in San Francisco, CA
A rare unique panoramic format photograph of an iconic summer beach scene along the Mediterranean coast of Tuscany by Italian photographer Massimo Vitali, renowned for his grand scale topographical observations of the summer rites and rituals of modern leisure.
Published in March 2024 on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of his beach project, Massimo Vitali selected this never published work for a special 30th Anniversary panoramic edition:
Viareggio Pano (1999)
42” x 93” / 106 x 236cm (framed)
limited edition of 12 + 2AP
signed, titled, dated certificate of authenticity
original archival photography print with diasec (acrylic glass) face mount in light grey lacquered gallery frame
Each original photograph is printed at the artist studio in Italy under artist supervision in strictly limited edition (12 + 2AP), signed/titled/dated upon final inspection and expertly framed at a renowned art framing facility in Germany specializing in large scale art photography works.
Disclaimer of authenticity:
although it is possible to acquire (smaller size) single page offset prints from the book "A Portfolio of Landscapes and Figures" (published by Steidl) in the secondary market, the artist studio strongly dissuades collectors from purchasing these single page prints outside of the context and authenticity of the complete portfolio.
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About the artist
Massimo Vitali was born in Como, Italy, in 1944.
He studied photography at the London College of Printing, in the 1970s initially working as a photojournalist, but at the beginning of the 80s a growing mistrust in the belief, that photography had an absolute capacity to reproduce the subtleties of reality, led to a change in his career path. He worked in cinematography for film and television before beginning a fine art practice in 1995.
Over the next two decades, Vitali’s large scale works would become recognizable for his highly detailed, epic scale panoramas, sociopolitical observations of the natural habitat of humankind at leisure.
His iconic series of beach panoramas, captured from a distance with an elevated large format camera platform, began in the light of drastic political changes in Italy.
Drawing inspiration from Renaissance and Old Flemish masters, in which the central space is fully exploited and the urban or natural landscape becomes the background, Vitali’s photographs grasp the viewer by capturing highly detailed observances of the recreational habitats of modern civilization.
Vitali’s work has been collected in six monographs: Beach and Disco, Natural Habitats, Landscapes With Figures, Swimming Pools, Short Stories and the just released Entering A New World.
Additionally, his work is represented in the world’s major museums, including the Centro de Arte Reina Sofia in Madrid, the Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver, the Fond National Art Contemporaine in Paris, the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Musée National d’Art Moderne in Paris, the Fondation Cartier in Paris and the Museo Luigi Pecci in Prato.
Massimo Vitali lives and works in Lucca (Italy) and in Berlin (Germany).
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SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024
Photolux Festival - Il Bel Paese?
Palazzo Ducale, Lucca, Italy
2023
La Grande Oasi - The way we live, now
OCA, Oasy Contemporary Art - Pistoia
2023
Standing Still
Cortona On The Move, Arezzo, Italy
2022
Massimo Vitali PhotoESPANA
Biblioteca Central Cantabria, Santander
2022
Endless Summer
Edwin Hook Gallery, New York
2022
Massimo Vitali: Leporello 2020
Melbourne
2022
Ti ho visto
Mazzoleni Gallery, Turin
2021
PienoVuoto
Forte di Belvedere, Florence
2021
No Country For Old Men
Visionarea Art Space, Rome
2020
Human Constellations
Museo Ettore Fico, Turin
2019
Massimo Vitali: Short Stories
Mazzoleni, London
2018
Coastal Colonies
Spiral, Tokyo
2017
‘Disturbed Coastal Systems’
Benrubi Gallery...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Color Photography
MaterialsPlexiglass, Wood, Photographic Film, Archival Paper, Photographic Paper,...
