Mauro Bergonzoli - DETAILS 2019

Franziska Countess
Fugger von Babenhausen
- received her degree in Art History,
Fine Arts and Languages from
Georgetown University in
Washington D.C. She studied
Renaissance and Dutch painting,
as well as Italian and Spanish.
Since 2008 she is manager and
muse of the Milanese Artist
Mauro Bergonzoli
About Money, Beauty, and Love
The true value of Mauro Bergonzoli artworks
Amongst much else Mauro Bergonzoli’s artworks are also invested with
three rare and singular qualities seldom found in what has increasingly
become the hubris and flim flam of today’s contemporary art market:
they are logically priced, objectively beautiful, and created 100% by the
artist himself. These are also qualities, which in my mind at least, set him
apart from other contemporary artists whose work is familiar to me. In
this growing circus of exploding global fairs, mind boggling auctions, and
rapidly multiplying galleries things have strangely morphed into a kind of
unregulated jungle where certain big players tightly control who is worth
what, why, and for how long. The artists’ message seems secondary, the
relevance of the aesthetic expression, or quality of the work being
produced is rendered almost obsolete, and the talent and artistic integrity of
whosoever actually physically creates a piece seems completely irrelevant
to value, both monetary or as a work of art in itself. Apparently all that
counts today (or perhaps always has) is shock effect, connections and
price-tag. And yet, in the shadows and the dark corners my ears are
beginning to hear an ever increasing and rising crescendo of salon and
museum whispers, finally daring to comment on this very naked emperor
standing in the room.
Let’s just wait and see when this bubble eventually pops, which undoubtedly
it will, and probably sooner rather than later.
In the meantime, if I may, allow me to invite you to dare to enjoy some
really beautiful paintings and block out the deafening white noise of the
global art market, at least for a moment or two.
Robert Hughes, the brilliant historian, celebrated filmmaker and genius
art critic for Time Magazine for over three decades once said, “the new
job of art is to sit on the wall and get more expensive.” Steadily growing
value in price CAN be the positive side effect of owning a Mauro Bergonzoli,
but was certainly never meant to be its purpose. Bergonzoli’s intention is
to spread positive vibrations with his colorful paintings and provide his
viewer with pleasure and joy. He speaks in images instead of words and
his goal is to celebrate the beauty in our world. It is this aesthetic beauty
the artist expresses with contemporary style and humor, which continues
to surprise me as being something new. Hughes’ widow the American
artist Doris Downes once came to visit the Country Atelier and brought
hand-signed gifts of his brilliant books. Reading ROME (2012) confirmed
my suspicion that history repeats itself:
„Another outlet for Roman wealth and decadence...was art. Just like today, the
prices of fashionable ’fine’ art were fantastically inflated: ancient Rome, it seems,
had its equivalents to the hysterical, grotesque pricing of Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol
and Jasper Johns.“
A beautiful painting gives me more pleasure than an ugly one, even if the latter might
be more expensive. Many years ago an Italian Museum Director handed me a spectacular
art catalogue filled with eye-popping Bergonzoli works. I was hooked instantly and
have been a collector ever since. Growing up in a medieval merchant family with close
ties to Venice, my heart always beat for the big boys: Titian, Dürer, Caravaggio, Da Vinci,
Goya, Velazquez, Giorgione, Veronese, Tintoretto, and Holbein, the list goes on. Frans
Hals’ and Rembrandts’ spontaneous brushstrokes are almost impressionistic up close.
Modern art rarely has the power to give me goosebumps but Bergonzoli’s long legged
beauties with golden spaghetti locks, luscious lips, and perfect breasts opened my
eyes. His Venetian masterpieces are modern Canalettos, romantic fairytales void of
pollution and mass tourism, clean and detail-rich, sprinkled with snow and dipped
in endless shades of blue…simply a dream. His Water Lily landscapes are fresh open
windows into a pure natural world filled with oxygen, perfume and light. His sexy cars
and powerful horses turn on men and women alike. Bergonzoli transforms everything
he sees into a more beautiful and stimulating version of itself. He is a true Alchemist
of color. His works are recognizable everywhere. They show great admiration for women,
their power, their beauty, their strength and their sensuality. Like a young boy the
artist sees the world with eyes wide open. “I believe what I see and not what people
tell me.” With his signature single blue eye, he pays homage to his late mother who
lost hers and had it replaced with glass. Perhaps his love for Murano glass began in
Bergonzoli’s childhood with his mother’s blue glass eye.
It is true that money makes the world go around and that clinking clanking sound is
highly seductive, but so is the power of love. Those art lovers addicted to filling their
walls and halls with Mauro’s energizing visions, buy because they love his paintings
and want to see them every day. Many of his collectors could easily drop millions on
cold stainless steel sculptures, especially if certain curators advise them to. But more
and more they would rather purchase a piece they love and want to enjoy with their
children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. They appreciate that Bergonzoli is a
real artist who creates his work himself, no tricks no help. Son of an engraver, he began
drawing before he could speak. He takes his time to create each work without any
physical assistance from others. Where nameless employees in “Art Factories” color in
circles, glue butterflies to canvases, build metal bunnies or construct giant lobsters,
Bergonzoli executes every acrylic brushstroke on all his sketch-free paintings himself.
“I need a lot of pazienza and amore to paint like this.” It is this patience and love for
detail in all of his masterpieces that Bergonzoli art collectors look for and adore. They
highly value his draftsmanship, craftsmanship, and true artistic talent. Like a modern
Canaletto, an Italian Monet, a Milanese Matisse, Mauro Bergonzoli is blessed with all
three of these qualities.
I wish you pleasure and joy with this stunning new catalogue and look forward to your
visit at the Country Atelier – the Maestro’s “Giverny” in Bavaria.
with Amore and kind greetings,
Franziska Countess Fugger von Babenhausen
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