The word ‘museum’ comes from the nine muses of art and history who dwelt on Mount Helicon in ancient Greece. The Helicon rivers inspired poets and made the pool where Narcissus fell in love with his own reflection – the first selfie. Pacifico’s Museumscopes are portraits of museumgoers responding to art, often mirroring the poses of the statues and paintings. Look carefully to find emotions ranging from inspiration to, alas, for one toddler at the Rijksmuseum, tears of frustration.
On the day that Pacifico visited the Munich Glyptothek, the drama of the great classical sculptures was contentedly ignored by the man reading a book in the next gallery. At the Städelsches Kunstinstitut in Frankfurt a bunch of college students lounging on a couch seem astonished by something outside the photograph. People do many things in museums besides reading the wall labels.
Massimo Pacifico was born in 1951 in Sulmona, Italy, the birthplace of the Latin poet, Ovid. After classical studies, Pacifico received his laureate in Political Science at the University of Florence. He became a professional photographer in 1977, always focusing on the people he sees on his world travels. Author of numerous books and articles, Pacifico has exhibited in many international museums. Last year, he produced for the National Museum of Anthropology in Florence, ‘FLO●KYO 1965-2015’, an exhibition of fifty symmetrical pairs of large color photographs taken in the twin-cities of Florence and Kyoto, Japan. Pacifico is currently editor of BARNUM, a visual online review.
Not all the following photographs are exhibited in the current (until August 21st 2016) show at the Muscarelle Museum of Art in Williamsbug VA. They are the first selection presented by Massimo Pacifico to the curator Prof. John T. Spyke
London, Uk • National Gallery
New York City, USA
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Munich, Germany • Neue Pinakothek
Frankfurt, Germany •
Städelsches Kunstinstitut
Munich, Germany • Städelsches Kunstinstitut
Nuremberg, Germany • Germanisches Nationalmuseum
Saint Petersburg, Russia • Ermitage Museum
Florence, Italy • Museo del Bargello
Paris, France •
Musee Galliera
Mumbai, India • Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya
Amsterdam, Holland •
Rijksmuseum
Rome, Italy • Musei Vaticani
Munich, Germany • Lenbachhaus
London, Uk • Victoria and Albert Museum
Saint Petersburg, Russia • Ermitage Museum
Munich, Germany •Pinakothek der Moderne
London, Uk • National Gallery
Munich, Germany • Alte Pinakothek
Florence, Italy • Museo dell’Opera del Duomo
London, Uk • National Gallery
London, Uk • National Gallery
London, Uk • National Portrait Gallery
Kyoto, Japan • National Museum
London, Uk • British Museum
London, Uk • Tate Modern
London, Uk • Tate
Stuttgart, Germany •
Mercedes Benz Museum
Frankfurt, Germany •
Städelsches Kunstinstitut
Amsterdam, Holland •
Rijksmuseum
Rivoli Torinese, Italy •
Castello di Rivoli
Milan, Italy •
Galleria d’ Arte Moderna
Berlin, Germany •
Bose Museum
Berlin, Germany •
Pergamon Museum
Barcelona, Spain •
Museu D’Art Contemporani
Munich, Germany •
Glyptothek
London, Uk • National Gallery
London, Uk • Victoria & Albert Museum
Leipzig, Germany •
Museum der bildenden Künste
Naples, Italy
Museo Archeologico Nazionale
Munich, Germany Lenbachhaus