Vairo Mongatti biography

Vairo Mongatti, born in Florence in 1934, is a famous Italian engraver. His artistic training began at the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence, where he was a student of the masters Giuseppe Viviani and Rodolfo Margheri . His decision to dedicate himself to engraving was influenced by the fascination that Morandi's art exerted on him, to which he had access in an exhibition in 1963. Since then, he has devotedly studied the sign of Canaletto, Fattori and Rembrandt, undisputed masters of drawing and engraving. Vairo Mongatti began his artistic career in 1963, preferring the etching technique. His works, which include around 550 matrices, of which 50 created in the last five years, are mostly landscapes and still lifes, reflecting a careful observation of reality and a careful study of the sign.
After graduating from the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence in 1965, Vairo Mongatti began his career as a teacher, first at the Clementina in Bologna and then at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna , where he inherited Morandi's chair. Since 1994, however, he decides to return to Florence to continue teaching the art of engraving. Here he founded the etching current Academia nova, which proposes a return to pure, figurative and classical etching.
Mongatti's artistic career has been marked by multiple awards and participation in important national events, including the 4th Giuseppe Polanschi National Engraving Biennial in Cavaion Veronese in 2009 and the Carmelo Floris Italian Engraving Biennial in Olzai in 2012/2013. He held a personal exhibition at the Fondazione Il Bisonte in Florence in 2011, and participated in collective exhibitions such as Grafica Oggi. Journey to the Italy of engraving in Turin. His unique and unmistakable style, which combines refined technical mastery and a calligraphic interpretation of reality, has allowed Mongatti to establish himself as one of the best-known engravers in Italy.
In addition to his intense artistic activity, Vairo Mongatti continues to dedicate himself to teaching, following in the footsteps of his teachers Margheri and Viviani. Despite being invited to the most important art exhibitions, such as the National Engraving Biennial in Cittadella and the Graphic Biennial in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Vairo Mongatti always maintains a discreet profile , letting his work speak for itself.
His works, like those exhibited in the personal exhibition of 75 etchings at Villa Renatico Martini in 1996, reveal a profound introspection and a desire to capture the essence of things. As Francesco Polizzi, then councilor for culture, underlined, in one of his works, The study of etchings from 1990, the image of an empty chair emerges, as a universal invitation to enter the world of the artist , a world of intimacy, sacrifice and will. In Vairo Mongatti's work, each object acquires its own life, its own essence, thanks to his mastery in using the tones of black and white. This ability to create atmosphere and give life to inanimate objects makes his works true masterpieces of art.
Today, Vairo Mongatti's works are exhibited in museums and public collections, including the Galleria of Modern Art in Turin, the Gabinetetto Disegno e Stampe of the Uffizi in Florence, the Paolina Library of the Vatican City, and the Raccolta Bertarelli at Palazzo Sforzesco in Milan. Despite his discreet life, Vairo Mongatti's presence in Italian art is palpable and impalpable, just like the dust that appears and disappears in the blade of light from the window of his studios.