Artists' portfolio: Massimo Vitali, snapshots of everyday life

An Italian artist known internationally as "the photographer of the beaches", in over 20 years he has taken more than two thousand images of seaside panoramas that investigate "the compassionate confusion that sums up Italy, its people, its landscape and its character . Being an ethologist – he explains in an interview with art critic Angela Madesani – I study human sociality. I am interested in observation and voyeurism. I am fascinated by the functioning of life, by social dynamics, by spaces, by interactions: all minimal things that nobody cares about. Photography, in this sense, becomes secondary, because I create plots, I think them: this is my job. Photography is for me a way to be able to watch people”.

Massimo Vitali was born in Como in 1944 and currently lives and works between Lucca and Berlin. After high school he moved to London where he studied Photography at the London College of Printing. In the early 80s he began working as a photojournalist and collaborated with various magazines and agencies in Italy and Europe. In this period he met Simon Guttmann, the founder of the Report agency, a decisive figure for his growth as a "committed photographer". In the early XNUMXs, distrust in photography's sheer ability to reproduce the complexities of reality led to a change in his career. He starts working as a cameraman for television and cinema. However, his relationship with the camera never ends, so much so that in the end he decides to devote himself to "photography as a means of artistic research".

In 1995 he began his "Beach Series", the series of photographs depicting Italian beaches, inspired by the political changes that took place in Italy. Vitali begins to carefully observe his fellow countrymen. It portrays a "sterilized and smug vision of Italian normality" and at the same time reveals "the internal conditions and disturbances of normality: the deception of plastic surgery, sexual innuendos, the commodification of pleasure, the delusion of opulence and rigid conformity" . Italy was changing, "Berlusconi had just won the elections, and I was curious to see the Italians who had voted for him, and so, one day - says the Maestro in an interview with HuffPost - I decided to put my camera on a beach and to observe”.
“The beach is an excellent observation point because in this space, which for me is above all a non-place, people are calm, have no defenses and are in an ideal situation to be studied. When we are on the beach we are more casual, more still, we move very little, we are more natural and relaxed. From the beach I look closely at society – continues Vitali – because it is a sort of microcosm where all of humanity is concentrated. It is a fantastic place to observe and document individuals because here people are themselves, they don't pose and mix with people of different backgrounds”.

An anthropological and sociological interest moves the photographer of the beaches: "On the beach I recognize some key moments that are at the basis of our society: family groups, relationships between peers and friends, the change in the care and aesthetics of bodies, for example more recently with the tattoo boom. All the changes here are seen in a macroscopic way. Relationships emerge, interweaving of relationships and even non-stories. There are moments where even if nothing seems to happen, many things happen to my eye”.

His large-format photographs of sun-kissed seascapes, often taken from soaring cliffs or tall scaffolding, dissect the complexity of human interaction. Panoramic views, coasts dotted with mothers, children, the elderly, middle-aged people, and then umbrellas, swimsuits, towels, life jackets, surfboards, rocks, rocks and stones that occupy a space of sand and water in a varied geometry of colors and movements under the typical whiteness of the summer light.

From Italy to the world. Vitali's indiscreet eye thus begins to scrutinize every corner of the planet, with the visionary curiosity of the great artist. Internationally appreciated for his blow-ups, as well as beaches, discos and public spaces in general, where anonymous individuals are portrayed in their free time. His ability to show landscapes and masses of people with narrative and formal details sometimes enhanced by almost impalpable backgrounds, classifies his works as contemporary human landscapes. His photos are present in numerous private collections, as well as, for example, at the Centro de Arte Reina Sofia in Madrid, at the Centro Arte Prato (Permanent Collection), at the Guggenheim museum in New York, at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver, at the Fond National Art Contemporaine, at the Center Pompidou – Musée National d'Art Moderne and at the Fondation Cartier in Paris, and in several other museums in Europe and the United States.

Speaking of the photos in the Epson 2009 calendar entitled “Human landscapes”, the author states: “The images must have a magical dimension, in which sociological and playful cues sometimes meet and where narrative structures are elaborated. I am satisfied when the reading of my photos is complex or contradictory, and I am curious to the point of voyeurism, fascinated by the behavior of individuals without trying to understand their meaning. My intervention is neutral, I just record, I wait for things to happen in front of me because the things that happen define the image. The photographic experience becomes an open practice for an experience of the world”.

Exhibition activity
Personal exhibitions (selection)
2018
Coastal Colonies, Spiral, Tokyo
2017
Disturbed Coastal Systems, Benrubi Gallery, New York
2016
Massimo Vitali, Ronchini Gallery, London
2015
Massimo Vitali – New Prints, Hilger Next, Vienna
2014
Massimo Vitali, Studio La Citta, Verona
2013
Between Normalities, Bonni Benrubi Gallery, New York
2011
Arcadian Remains, Bonni Benrubi Gallery, New York
Massimo Vitali, Natural Habitats, LOOK3, Charlottesville
2010
A Touch of Summer, Galerie Ernst Hilger at Brot Kunsthalle, Vienna
In/Out, Centro de Arte Santa Monica, Barcelona
Galerie du Jour Agnes B., Paris
2009
Massimo Vitali: Landscape with Figures 2, Bonni Benrubi Gallery, New York
Disturbances of Reality, Hilger Contemporary, Vienna
2008
Massimo Vitali, Bonni Benrubi Gallery, New York
2005
Massimo Vitali: New Work, Bonni Benrubi Gallery, New York
Photographs 1995-2005: Vitali, Lentos Kunstmuseum, Linz
2004
Massimo Vitali, BBK Culture Hall, Bilbao
Massimo Vitali, Luigi Pecci Center for Contemporary Art, Prato
Landscape with Figures, Bonni Benrubi Gallery, New York
2002
Public Places Private Lives, The Photographers Gallery, London
2001
Museum of Modern Art / Hasselblad Foundation, Gotenburg
Massimo Vitali, The Venice Biennale

Participation in group exhibitions (selection)
2018
Civilization: the way we live now, National Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul
2017
From the Cavern to the Moon, Centro Pecci, Prato
2016
Extraordinary Visions. Italy is watching us, MAXXI, Rome
2015
Free all, Ettore Fico Museum, Turin
Industry now, Mast Foundation, Bologna
2012
Sense of Place – European Landscape Photography, BOZAR, Brussels
Shared Vision, Aperture, New York
2010
Human Rites, Bass Museum, Miami
PastPresentFuture: Highlights from the UniCredit Collection, Yapi Kredi Cultural Center, Istanbul
2009
Parrworld: The Collection of Martin Parr, Jeu de Paume, Paris
Italian Genius Now, Museum of Contemporary Art Rome – MACRO Future, Rome
2008
Human/Nature: Recent European Landscape Photography, Nelson Atkins Museum, Kansas City
Las Vegas Collects Contemporary, The Las Vegas Art Museum, Las Vegas
Art is For the Spirit: Works from the UBS Art Collection, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo
2007
Jano – The double face of photography, Fondos de la Collecion Permanente Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid
Urban Notes, Luigi Pecci Center for Contemporary Art, Prato
Italian Genius Now, Museum of Fine Arts, Hanoi
Existencias, Musac, Museum of Contemporary Art of Castilla y Leon, Leon
Italies – Doubles visions, Maison Européene de la Photographie, Paris
2006
Center Pompidou - Musée National d'Art Moderne, Paris
New Landscapes – Italianische Fotokunst, Sammlung der Unicredit Group, HVB Kunst Palais, München
UBS Collection, Tate Modern, London
Des territoires, des patrimoines, FRAC – Alsace, Sélestat
Beyond Delirious, CIFO Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation, Miami
See into liquid, Museum of Contemporary Art, Denver, Colorado
Sounds and visions, Villa Croce Museum of Contemporary Art, Genoa
2003
Painting Pictures: Painting and media in the digital age, Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Gerber
Agrupèmonos todos, MARCO Museo de Arte Contemporánea, Vigo
Vacant Community, Olivetti Foundation, Rome
2001
Trade, Fotomuseum Winterthur
Collection 3, Tailcoat Alsace
2000
Time!, Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome
Art and Time, Center of Contemporary Culture, Barcelona
PS1 Contemporary Art Center, New York
Le Temps Vite, MNAM Center Georges Pompidou, Paris
1998
Un nouveau paysage humain, XXIX Rencontres de la Photographie, Arles

Presence in museums and international public and private collections

AUG Art Gallery of Ontario Ontario (Canada)
Conservatoire du Littoral Paris (France)
Reina Sofia Art Center Madrid (Spain)
Luigi Pecci Center for Contemporary Art Prato (Italy)
The Guggenheim New York (USA)
Museum of Contemporary Art of Castilla y Leon (Spain)
Belgacom Brussels (Belgium)
Sandretto Rebaudengo Guarene Foundation, Turin (Italy)
Metropolitan Bank Trust Photo Collection, Chicago (USA)
MMK Frankfurt am Main Sammlung E-On, Duesseldorf (Germany)
Museum of Contemporary Art Denver (USA)
Agnes b. Paris (France)
Fond National d'Art Contemporain Paris (France)
Arts Plastiques (Belgium)
Fondation Cartier Paris (France)
Fortis Bank (Germany)
Tailcoat Alsace (France)
ABN Amro (NL)
Arken Museum (Denmark)
AkzoNobel (NL)
Vanmoerkerke Collection (NL)
Center Pompidou Musée National d'Art Moderne Paris (France)
Neue Galerie der Stadt Linz (Austria)
UBS-SBV, Switzerland / Italy
Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art Gainesville, Florida (USA)
UNICREDIT (Germany)
Autostadt Wolfsburg – Volkswagen Collection (Germany)
Elton John Atlanta (USA)
Vacances Bleues Paris (France)
Ella Fontanals Cisneros Collection (USA)
Essl Sammlung Austria (A)
Deutsche Bank (D)
Rupert Everett (UK)
Sacha Cohen (USA)
Cameron Diaz (USA)
Courteney Cox (USA)
The Nelson Atkins Museum of Art Kansas City MO (USA)
The Hallmark Collection Kansas City, MO (USA)
AT&T Corporate Collection (USA)
JWT New York (USA)
Kenneth Cole Collection (USA)

Transfer market
“My first photographs, in the 90s – Vitali recounts in an interview with Il Sole 24 ore in 2011 – cost 800 lire. Then the prices rose progressively to avoid speculative behavior on the part of the merchants. In the summer of 2011 I went from 25 to 30-40 euros. A decision that derives from a change of strategy: I have always followed a relatively low price policy to encourage greater circulation of the works, which I had to curb in some way because my photos had become too popular. So now I'm printing them in a larger format to make them less domestic, since I'm trying to address myself to more serious collecting". An undoubtedly successful operation given the excellent performances achieved in those years, with an increasingly international market and the massive entry of his work into the great museums and the most prestigious public and private collections (see the exhibition activity chapter). 2013 was Vitali's record year with a turnover that in auctions alone – according to Artprice – came close to half a million euros (about 50% in the USA). In recent years, also due to the global economic crisis which has also affected the art market in its acute phase, his prices - like those of most of the great names in modern and contemporary art - have gradually consolidating. A trend that appears evident above all on the secondary market where there is an increase in unsold items and where even significant works by the Master can be purchased at interesting prices. Another matter for the primary market where the large group of international galleries (see the reference galleries and prices paragraphs) that deal with Vitali is doing an excellent job of enhancing his work by staging exhibitions, organizing events and exhibiting his works in the stands of the most important international fairs.

Gallery di reference:
USA:
Benrubi Gallery
www.benrubigallery.com
rachel@benrubigallery.com
Austria:
Galerie Ernst Hilger
www.hilger.at
andrea.rest@hilger.at
Belgium
Crown Gallery Knokke
www.crowngalleryknokke.com
info@crowngalleryknokke.com
Brazil:
Baro Gallery
www.barogaleria.com
info@barogaleria.com
France:
Galerie du Jour – Agnes B
www.galeriedujour.com
elodie.cazes@agnesb.fr
Italy:
Eduardo Secci Contemporary
www.eduardosecci.com
sales@eduardosecci.com
The City study
www.studiolacitta.it
info@studiolacitta.it
Spain:
Senda Gallery
www.galeriasenda.com
carlos@galeriasenda.com
United Kingdom:
Ronchini Gallery
www.ronchinigallery.com
info@ronchinigallery.com

Pricing: In the numerous international galleries that represent him, Massimo Vitali's shots can be purchased with an investment ranging from around 40 euros for single images up to over 70-80 euros for diptychs in a maximum of six copies. The large beaches crowded with ordinary people, which represent the hallmark of the search for him, are highly appreciated by collectors.

TOP price in it: Picnic Allée, 2000 – Chromogenic print. Diasec mounted. Printed later Ed. 1 / 3 of 188 x 231,1 cm – sold for over 76 thousand euros at Phillips in New York in April 2017. Viareggio, 2000 – Cibachrome (sous plexiglas) Ed. 3 / 9 of 150,4, 182 x 73 cm – changed hands for over €2008 at Artcurial in Paris in April XNUMX.