Giovanni Mason (1937) - Crocifissione

AUTHOR

Giovanni Mason (born 1937) Italian sculptor and painter. Born in Piombino Dese, near Treviso, he is a prominent figure in contemporary sculpture and painting, whose artistic research developed between Veneto and Lombardy. After early studies at the ornamentation school of the Accademia di Castelfranco Veneto, he refined his technique by attending sculpture courses at the Accademia di Brera in Milan. Crucial for his maturation was, however, autonomous and itinerant training, marked by visits to major European museums and encounters with masters such as Mario Radice and Oskar Kokoschka. This path led him to develop a language that revisits the great plastic tradition of artists like Antonio Canova and Umberto Boccioni, reinterpreting it with a modern sensibility aimed at probing the mystery of the human figure and its relationship with the infinite.

His style is characterized by anthropomorphic and essential symbolism, where the search for a balance between originality and formal perfection manifests through a constant dialogue between spherical lines and harsher geometries. Mason does not limit himself to rendering detail; he aims to represent the whole, the very essence of phenomena, placing man at the center of knowledge and vision. This spiritual depth finds expression in a skilful working of noble and varied materials: from sculptures in wood and precious marbles to bronze and refined integrations with Murano glass. His art is a play of contrasts between light and shadow that transforms raw matter into metamorphic creatures, capable of giving tangible form to abstract concepts such as nonviolence and a love of life.

Mason's international prestige is confirmed by decades of exhibition activity in Europe, the United States and Japan, as well as important institutional recognitions, including the Ambrogino d’Oro awarded in Milan in 1974 and the Benemerenza of Cantù city awarded to him in 2024. His works have entered collections of absolute prominence, featuring in the Vatican Museums, the Civic Museums of Padua, and prestigious banking foundations. Recently, his visibility has been renewed by iconic public installations, such as the monument “Love for Life” in Cantù,

DESCRIPTION

“Crocifissione” (Crucifixion), oil on canvas, 63×53 cm with frame, 50×40 cm the canvas alone, 1980s, signed at the lower margin. On the back, signed and with the artist’s studio address.

At the center of the composition rises the figure of Christ, whose body appears elongated and almost dematerialized in an ascending tension that culminates in the gesture of arms extended upward, transforming the gallows into a symbol of union between the human and the divine. At the foot of the cross, on the left, a group of dolorous figures clusters, rendered as a compact block of material that accentuates the sense of choral drama, while on the right tiny silhouettes seem to observe the event from a metaphysical distance. The color choice is deliberately essential and symbolic: a deep, nocturnal blue background serves as a cosmic void from which the subjects emerge, lit by golden glows, ochers and browns that lend the scene an aura of timeless sanctity, as if a modern icon emerged from darkness.

An analysis of the painting technique reveals how the identity of Mason as a sculptor predominates even on the canvas, where color is treated as dense matter to be molded to generate pronounced plastic effects. The brushstrokes, full-bodied and vibrant, create a tormented surface that constantly seeks the third dimension, demonstrating an evident volumetric affinity with Umberto Boccioni’s dynamic researches, especially in the decomposition of planes and in the intrinsic force of shapes. Placed in the period of the artist’s mature phase, the work perfectly embodies that anthropomorphic symbolism that we have seen to be the fulcrum of his production, where the human figure is never mere representation but a vehicle of interior revelation. In this work, the search for the essential and the play of contrasts between light and shadow transform painting into an extension of his sculptural practice, confirming Mason’s ability to elevate the particular to the universal through a skilled and almost mystical handling of painting material.

CONDITION REPORT

Excellent overall condition. Painting intact in every part with vivid and legible color and brushwork. The frame is offered as a courtesy.

Tracked and insured shipment with appropriate packaging.