Matteo Massagrande (1959) - Mercato di Treviso

AUTHOR

Matteo Massagrande (1959) is an Italian painter and printmaker. Born in Padua in 1959 and today active between his birthplace and Hajós in Hungary, he is considered one of the most authoritative masters of contemporary realism at an international level. Although he is famous for his silent interiors and abandoned villas where light is the absolute protagonist, his still life research constitutes a fundamental pillar of his poetics, approached with the same reserved poetics as grand architectures. In these works, everyday objects such as pitchers, vases or fruits are not mere exercises in style, but become “portraits of matter” examined with a meticulousness that has roots in his deep knowledge of ancient techniques, engraving, and restoration. Through a skillful use of chromatic stratification, Massagrande transforms still life into a meditation on time and permanence, elevating microscopic detail to a metaphysical and suspended dimension.

His long career, which began early in the seventies and enriched by intellectual exchanges with figures such as Ermanno Olmi, Riccardo Licata, and Giacomo Guidi, has led him to exhibit in over one hundred solo shows across Europe, Asia, and the United States. His most recent still lifes, main features of important exhibitions between 2024 and 2025 in London and Varese, confirm his ability to render the spiritual density of the everyday through painting that is at once pure technical mastery and poetic vision. With works present in prestigious permanent collections, including the Uffizi Gallery’s Cabinet of Prints, Massagrande confirms himself as an artist capable of dialoguing with the great tradition of the past to tell the silent resonances of contemporary reality.

DESCRIPTION

"Mercato di Treviso", oil on panel, 47x37 cm the canvas only, 1980s, signed lower right.
A rare and unusual painting for the painter."