Massimo Listri

Florentine photographer Massimo Listri is a master of capturing memorable interior spaces. Throughout three decades as a photographer, Listri has recorded some of the most awe-striking and elaborate interiors of renowned architecture worldwide. Through his art, Listri captures the genius and eloquence of architecture and design. With a remarkable eye and a recognizable aesthetic, detailed and accomplished in his focus on architectural photography, Listri’s pictures function similarly to portals. The images transport the viewer from the sacred, treasure-laden art of the Vatican to the interior halls of German and Italian palazzos brimming with history to the libraries of the privileged with their books, maps, and documents of scholarship. Ultimately, Massimo Listri’s photography invites the viewer into a world of grand architectural wonders, demonstrating the pinnacle of creative human achievement.

Born in 1953, Italian photographer Massimo Listri has become famous as a master of bringing a vibrant energy to interior spaces. His dedicated career started in his teens. At age 17, he collaborated with magazines dedicated to art and architecture. Studying Arts and Letters at university, Listri continued to devote his time to photography by contributing services to publications centered on art and design. In 1981, Listri founded the internationally renowned magazine FMR, along with Franco Maria Ricci and Vittorio Sgarbi. Throughout 20 years, this magazine served as the major vehicle for Listri’s expression of photographic essays of palaces, villas, interior design, and architecture from all periods of art history. 

In thirty years, Massimo has published more than 50 books with the most prestigious publishers in Europe and the United States ( Palaces of Rome, Vilas of Tuscany, Versailles, Italian Palace, Sweden Interiors, Alhambra, Grand Interiors, Casa Mexicana, New Asian Interiors, etc.) In addition, he has exhibited his work at numerous “solo artist” exhibitions worldwide, at such locations, including El Museo de Arte Moderno, Buenos Aires, and the Palazzo Pitti in Florence. Listri finds and photographs spaces that have aesthetic and historical wealth in such a way that preserves their beauty and simultaneously enhances their history. In essence, Listri sees endless wonders and beautiful visions in architectural spaces and has found a way to translate these into stunning photographs. He employs large format negatives and works almost exclusively with natural light and long exposures. His love and fascination with the past and the monuments that civilization builds are powerful statements of the beauty, majesty, and humanity that history has preserved.

SELECTED MUSEUM COLLECTIONS:

•  Morgan Library, NY, US 

•  Museum of Modern Art, Bogota, CO

•  Vatican Museum, Vatican City, IT

•  Museum of Modern Art, Buenos Aires, AR