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FINE ART PRINTS >> Limited Edition MASI
The Artist & His Work
Oliviero Masi: Masi-a family name of which the roots lay deep in the meanderings of country recollections. Oliviero-a name with the perfume of silvery olive trees-and the artist was born [in February, 1948] of a county loving family, at Busto Arsizio, in the outlying Milanese countryside.
Drawing upon his contact with the countryside, Oliviero Masi has created a marvelous "diary of Lombardy reflections, showing us details of the plains, its sudden chasms, the still waters, simple but ingenious country inventions, rows of mulberry and poplar trees, a processions of days with the gentle succession of the seasons; water, sun, greenness, dew, and then frost and snow; unbearably hot and humid hours with the stillness broken only by the high-pitched mosquito hum and the chirping crickets."[OM]
Oliviero Masi is an artist whose dreams evoke the fading light of the tranquil Lombardy countryside. Farms nestling in green fields surrounded by the stern, erect, sentinels of old peasant history. [Except by Nazzareno d''''Errico]
Perhaps Masi reveals himself as a supremely refined craftsman rather than a passionate, impetuous artist; a sense of fragility, with delicateness, with attention to neatness and technique poem and precision; a clearness which reflects consistency, a method; a splendid technique to illuminate a delicate poem. [Excerpt by Gabriele Mandel]
His Technique
One can say that from a certain point of view Oliviero Masi''''s name has become synonymous with "vernice molle," a technique that only a handful of artists know how to use with such knowledgeable artistry and even fewer attempt it. [Excerpt by Marco Giuliani]
"Contrary to what one may think, although the ''''vernice molle'''' technique is certainly complicated at first, it is more simple and direct because one only needs to place the sheet on a layer of wax and draw on it. The paper then leaves a porous imprint on the paint through which the acid passes-acid which then eats into the metal plate. Whereas in the acquaforte the mark appears more clear-cut, the ''''vernice molle'''' can transform the pencil or charcoal mark into one which is softer, gentler, ''''atmospheric'''', thus underlying the values which I search for in my pictures." [OM]
The Collection
Webster Fine Art presents and maintains an extensive collection of the works of Oliviero Masi, spanning 20 years of the artist''s prolific print production, and including his best-known and richest landscape renderings. Many of the prints bear the original imprint of the John Szoke Gallery of New York.
Webster Fine Art inventories nearly 100 original prints in quantities ranging from single prints to editions of 99 for a total of 1,100 prints and 600 posters. Each of the prints is signed by the artist. The majority of prints are numbered in formal production lots (such as 33/150) or in smaller discrete lots numbered in Roman numerals up to a total production run limited to 25 (such as IV/XXV). A few are labeled AP (Artist''s Proof), and even fewer are labeled Sample to indicate a print that was circulated among galleries, brokers, or collectors.
Quality
All of the prints are printed on top-quality print paper. Some are watermarked, while others have the embossed name of the production house (John Szoke Gallery). The prints vary in size from a print image area of 3.5" wide by 5" tall to 25.75" x 18.75". These are first-class production pieces and are resplendent with the stunning coloration and texture that only Masi can achieve in his rendering of rolling landscapes bright with poppies and nearly iridescent foliage indigenous to the Italian farms and landscapes. The prints and posters are carefully stored in a temperature- and humidity-controlled environment and an in very good condition.
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