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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.
Born in 1944 in Como, Italy.
Lives and works in Lucca, Italy.
Graduates in Photography from the London College of Printing, London, UK
Lucie Award 2025, Lifetime Achievement, Los Angeles, USA
94/22, Zander Galerie, Cologne, Germany
Photolux Festival: Il bel paese?, Palazzo Ducale, Lucca, Italy
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
Massimo Vitali, PHotoESPAÑA, Central Library of Cantabria, Santander, Spain
Ti ho visto, Mazzoleni Gallery, Turin, Italy
Pienovuoto, Forte Belvedere – Museo del ‘900, Florence, Italy
Leporello 2020. No Country for Old Men, Visionarea, Auditorium Conciliazione, Rome, Italy
Human Constellations, Museo Ettore Fico, Turin, Italy
New Normal, La Fab, Paris, France
Massimo Vitali: Short Stories, Mazzoleni, London, UK
Coastal Colonies, Spiral, Tokyo, Japan
Disturbed Coastal System, Benrubi Gallery, New York, NY, USA
Massimo Vitali, Ronchini Gallery, London, UK
Massimo Vitali: New Prints, Hilger Next, Vienna, Austria
Massimo Vitali, Studio La Citta, Verona, Italy
Between Normalities, Benrubi Gallery, New York, NY, USA
Arcadian Remains, Benrubi Gallery, New York, NY, USA
Massimo Vitali. Natural Habitats, LOOK3, Charlottesville, VA, USA
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
Massimo Vitali: Landscape with Figures 2, Benrubi Gallery, New York, NY, USA
Disturbances of Reality, Hilger Contemporary, Vienna, Austria
Massimo Vitali, Benrubi Gallery, New York, NY, USA
Massimo Vitali: New Work, Benrubi Gallery, New York, NY, USA
Fotografien 1995-2005: Vitali, Lentos Kunstmuseum, Linz, Austria
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
Public Places Private Lives, The Photographers Gallery, London, UK
Massimo Vitali, La Biennale di Venezia, Venice, Italy
Massimo Vitali, Museum of Modern Art/Hasselblad Foundation, Gothenburg, Sweden
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
Foto in gioco!, La Venaria Reale, Turin, Italy
Entre-corps, Puzzle, Thionville, France
Ridisegnare lo spazio, LABS Contemporary Art, Bologna, Italy
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
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
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
Civilization: the way we live now, National Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul, South Korea
From the Cavern to the Moon, Centro Pecci, Prato, Italy
Domenica, Metternich Palace, Vienna, Austria
Extraordinary Visions. L’Italia ci guarda, MAXXI, Rome, Italy
Liberi tutti, Museo Ettore Fico, Turin, Italy
Industry now, Mast Foundation, Bologna, Italy
Sense of Place – European Landscape Photography, BOZAR, Brussels, Belgium
Shared Vision, Aperture, New York, NY, USA
Human Rites, Bass Museum, Miami, FL, USA
PastPresentFuture: Highlights from the UniCredit Collection, Yapi Kredi Cultural Center, Istanbul, Turkey
Parrworld: The Collection of Martin Parr, Jeu de Paume, Paris, France
Italian Genius Now, Museo D’Arte Contemporanea Roma – MACRO Future, Rome, Italy
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
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
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
Collezione Permanente, Centro per l’Arte Contemporanea Luigi Pecci, Prato, Italy
Italia. Doppie Visioni, Palazzo Reale, Milan, Italy
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
Trade, Fotomuseum Winterthur, Winterthur, Switzerland
Collection 3, FRAC Alsace, Sélestat, France
Biozones, Forum Cultura Contemporanea, Barcelona, Spain
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
Un nouveau paysage humain, XXIX Rencontres de la Photographie, Arles, France
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
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
Zander Galerie
Schönhauser Straße 8
50968 Cologne
Germany
Zander Galerie
6 Rue Jacob
75006 Paris
France
