Massimo Vitali

Biography

Massimo Vitali studied Photography at the London College of Printing and initially worked as a photojournalist before committing to artistic photography in 1995. Born in Como in 1944, he lives and works in Lucca, Italy. 

In the 1990s, Vitali became well-known for his monumental photographs of public recreational areas: beaches, bathing lakes, skiing resorts – seemingly carefree places of collective idleness. Beneath the sun-drenched surface, however, Vitali’s works reveal precise social observations. From a distance the artist examines the behaviour of tourists in these places, designated to be experienced by them. His images convey the staging of leisure time, of standardised recreation, the urge to be seen and the desire to belong.

The photographs of urban coasts and beaches taken from 1994 on are some of his most renowned. Captured with a large-format camera from an elevated vantage point, the works offer an almost painterly view of the scenes, which are populated, more or less densely, by tourists. Inspired by the compositions of Flemish and Italian Renaissance painting, Vitali uses the entire space within the frame with depth of field to create a visual tapestry of sightlines, moments and gestures.

Vitali’s work has been exhibited internationally, including at the Biennale di Venezia (2001); MAXXI, Rome; Jeu de Paume, Paris and Tate Modern, London. His works are represented in the collections of major institutions, including the Center Pompidou, Paris; Reina Sofia, Madrid; Guggenheim Museum, New York and the Deutsche Bank Collection, Frankfurt.

In 2025, Massimo Vitali will receive the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award from the Lucie Foundation, Los Angeles, – a recognition of his extraordinary body of work, which oscillates between documentary precision and painterly composition, transforming our perception of everyday life.

Biography

Born in 1944 in Como, Italy.

Lives and works in Lucca, Italy.

Education

1964

Graduates in Photography from the London College of Printing, London, UK

Grants, Awards and Residencies

2025

Lucie Award 2025, Lifetime Achievement, Los Angeles, USA

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2025

94/22, Zander Galerie, Cologne, Germany

2024

Photolux Festival: Il bel paese?, Palazzo Ducale, Lucca, Italy

2023

La Grande Oasi – The way we live, now, Oasy Contemporary Art and Architecture (OCA), San Marcello Piteglio, Italy

Standing Still, Cortona On The Move, Cortona, Italy 

2022

Massimo Vitali, PHotoESPAÑA, Central Library of Cantabria, Santander, Spain

Ti ho visto, Mazzoleni Gallery, Turin, Italy

2021

Pienovuoto, Forte Belvedere – Museo del ‘900, Florence, Italy

Leporello 2020. No Country for Old Men, Visionarea, Auditorium Conciliazione, Rome, Italy

2020

Human Constellations, Museo Ettore Fico, Turin, Italy

New Normal, La Fab, Paris, France

2019

Massimo Vitali: Short Stories, Mazzoleni, London, UK

2018

Coastal Colonies, Spiral, Tokyo, Japan

2017

Disturbed Coastal System, Benrubi Gallery, New York, NY, USA

2016

Massimo Vitali, Ronchini Gallery, London, UK

2015

Massimo Vitali: New Prints, Hilger Next, Vienna, Austria

2014

Massimo Vitali, Studio La Citta, Verona, Italy

2013

Between Normalities, Benrubi Gallery, New York, NY, USA

2011

Arcadian Remains, Benrubi Gallery, New York, NY, USA

Massimo Vitali. Natural Habitats, LOOK3, Charlottesville, VA, USA

2010

A Touch of Summer, Galerie Ernst Hilger at Brot Kunsthalle, Vienna, Austria

In/Out, Centro de Arte Santa Monica, Barcelona, Spain

Massimo Vitali, Galerie du Jour Agnes B., Paris, France

2009

Massimo Vitali: Landscape with Figures 2, Benrubi Gallery, New York, NY, USA

Disturbances of Reality, Hilger Contemporary, Vienna, Austria

2008

Massimo Vitali, Benrubi Gallery, New York, NY, USA

2005

Massimo Vitali: New Work, Benrubi Gallery, New York, NY, USA

Fotografien 1995-2005: Vitali, Lentos Kunstmuseum, Linz, Austria

2004

Massimo Vitali, Aula de Cultura BBK, Bilbao, Spain

Massimo Vitali, Centro per l’Arte Contemporanea Luigi Pecci, Prato, Italy

Landscapes with Figures, Benrubi Gallery, New York, NY, USA

2002

Public Places Private Lives, The Photographers Gallery, London, UK

2001

Massimo Vitali, La Biennale di Venezia, Venice, Italy

Massimo Vitali, Museum of Modern Art/Hasselblad Foundation, Gothenburg, Sweden 

Selected Group Exhibitions

2023

DAY to MORROW. Main International Exhibition, DongGang International Photo Festival, Yeongwol, South Korea

Detour London. Moleskine Foundation Collection, Saatchi Gallery, London, UK

Civilization: The Way We Live Now, Saatchi Gallery, London, UK; traveled to Musei San Domenico, Forlì, Italy; Musée des Civilizations de l’Europe et de la Méditerranée (Mucem), Marseille, France; Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, Aukland, New Zealand; National Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul, South Korea

L’Italia è un desiderio: fotografie, paesaggi e visioni 1842-2022. Le collezioni Alinari e Mufoco, Scuderie del Quirinale, Rome, Italy

2022

Foto in gioco!, La Venaria Reale, Turin, Italy

Entre-corps, Puzzle, Thionville, France

Ridisegnare lo spazio, LABS Contemporary Art, Bologna, Italy

2021

Partance, Villa Théo, Le Lavandeu, France

The Families of Man, Museo Archeologico Regionale di Aosta, Aosta, Italy

RIVA Project, MAD Murate Art District, Florence, Italy

Natura Risponde, Associazione 21 – Ex complesso Officine Gay, Lodi, Italy

Electronic: From Kraftwerk to The Chemical Brothers, Design Museum, London, UK

Civilization: the way we live now, Musée des Civilisations de l’Europe et de la Méditerranée, Marseille, France

2020

Shared Space: A New Era, Photographs from the Bank of America Collection, The University Galleries at Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL, USA

Civilization: the way we live now, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, Auckland, New Zealand 

2019

Civilization: the way we live now, Ullen Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing, China; traveled to National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia

L’Italia dei fotografi. 24 storie d’autore, M9 Museo del‘900, Venice, Italy

2018

Civilization: the way we live now, National Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul, South Korea

2017

From the Cavern to the Moon, Centro Pecci, Prato, Italy

Domenica, Metternich Palace, Vienna, Austria

2016

Extraordinary Visions. L’Italia ci guarda, MAXXI, Rome, Italy

2015

Liberi tutti, Museo Ettore Fico, Turin, Italy

Industry now, Mast Foundation, Bologna, Italy

2012

Sense of Place – European Landscape Photography, BOZAR, Brussels, Belgium

Shared Vision, Aperture, New York, NY, USA

2010

Human Rites, Bass Museum, Miami, FL, USA

PastPresentFuture: Highlights from the UniCredit Collection, Yapi Kredi Cultural Center, Istanbul, Turkey

2009

Parrworld: The Collection of Martin Parr, Jeu de Paume, Paris, France

Italian Genius Now, Museo D’Arte Contemporanea Roma – MACRO Future, Rome, Italy 

2008

Human/Nature: Recent European Landscape Photography, Nelson Atkins Museum, Kansas City, MO, USA

Las Vegas Collects Contemporary, The Las Vegas Art Museum, Las Vegas, NV, USA

Art is For the Spirit: Works from the UBS Art Collection, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan

2007

Jano – La doble cara de la fotografia, Fondos de la Collecion Permanente Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid, Spain

Note Urbane, Centro per l’arte contemporanea Luigi Pecci, Prato, Italy

Italian Genius Now, Museum of Fine Arts, Hanoi, Vietnam

Existencias, Musac, Museo de Arte contemporaneo de Castilla y Leon, Leon, Spain

Italies – Doubles visions, Maison Européene de la Photographie, Paris, France

The Painters of Modern Day Life: A Collection of Photographs Donated by the Caisse de Dépôts, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France

2006

New Landscapes – Italienische Fotokunst, Sammlung der Unicredit Group, HVB Kunst Palais, München UBS Collection, Tate Modern, London, UK

Des territoires, des patrimoines, FRAC – Alsace, Sélestat, France

Beyond Delirious, CIFO Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation, Miami, FL, USA

See into liquid, Museum of Contemporary Art, Denver, CO, USA

Suoni e visioni, Museo d’Arte Contemporanea Villa Croce, Genova, Italy

The Age of Metamorphosis, European Art Highlights from the Centro Pecci Collection, MoCA, Shanghai, China

2005

Collezione Permanente, Centro per l’Arte Contemporanea Luigi Pecci, Prato, Italy

Italia. Doppie Visioni, Palazzo Reale, Milan, Italy

2003

Painting Pictures: Painting and media in the digital age, Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Wolfsburg, Germany

Agrupèmonos todos, MARCO Museo de Arte Contemporánea, Vigo, Spain

Vacant Community, Fondazione Olivetti, Rome, Italy

2001

Trade, Fotomuseum Winterthur, Winterthur, Switzerland

Collection 3, FRAC Alsace, Sélestat, France

Biozones, Forum Cultura Contemporanea, Barcelona, Spain

2000

Tempo!, Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome, Italy

Arte y Tiempo, Centre de Cultura Contemporanea, Barcelona, Spain

PS1, Contemporary Art Center, New York, NY, USA

Le Temps Vite, MNAM Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France 

1998

Un nouveau paysage humain, XXIX Rencontres de la Photographie, Arles, France

Selected Bibliography

Massimo Vitali: Distant Close-Ups, Steidl Publishers, Göttingen, Germany

Massimo Vitali: Entering a New World, Steidl Publishers, Göttingen, Germany

Massimo Vitali: Short Stories, Steidl Publishers, Göttingen, Germany

Massimo Vitali: Natural Habitats, Steidl Publishers, Göttingen, Germany

Massimo Vitali: Landscape with Figures, Steidl Publishers, Göttingen, Germany

Massimo Vitali: Beach & Disco, Steidl Publishers, Göttingen, Germany

Public Collections

Art Gallery of Ontario, Canada

Conservatoire du Littoral Paris, France

Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid, Spain

Centro per L’Arte Contemporanea Luigi Pecci, Prato, Italy

The Guggenheim New York, NY, USA

Museo de Arte contemporaneo de Castilla y Leon, Spain

Belgacom Bruxelles, Belgium 

Fondazione Sandretto Rebaudengo Guarene, Turin, Italy

Metropolitan Bank Trust Photo Collection, Chicago, IL, USA

MMK Frankfurt am Main Sammlung, Germany

E-On, Düsseldorf, Germany

Museum of Contemporary Art Denver, CO, USA

Agnes b. Paris, France

Fond National d’Art Contemporain Paris, France

Arts Plastiques, Belgium

Fondation Cartier, Paris, France

Fortis Bank, Germany

FRAC Alsace, France

ABN Amro, Netherlands

Arken Museum, Ishøj, Denmark

AkzoNobel, Netherlands

Vanmoerkerke Collection, Netherlands

Centre Pompidou Musée Nationa d’Art Moderne Paris, France

Neue Galerie der Stadt Linz, Austria

UBS-SBV, Switzerland/Italy

Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art Gainesville, FL, USA

UNICREDIT, Germany

Autostadt Wolfsburg – Volkswagen Collection, Germany

Elton John Atlanta, GA, USA

Vacances Bleues Paris, France

Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation, USA

Essl Sammlung, Austria

Deutsche Bank, Germany

The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, USA

AT&T Corporate Collection, USA

JWT New York, NY, USA

Kenneth Cole Collection, USA

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