|
© 2003, Rotary Club of Charleston P.O.
Box 21029 Club
secretary:
|
 |
Mepkin
Abbey to unveil art collection treasure MAY 13, 2003 - You may not have heard of artist Ugo Tesoriere, but before long you might.
He was a doctor who gave up a great career in New York to move to Italy and paint for 40 years, explained Celia Cerasoli, an art historian who many know in Charleston for operating Celia's restaurant before it closed a couple of years ago. Tesoriere's legacy of 475 paintings and more than 1,000 watercolors and drawings has been left to Mepkin Abbey in Berkeley County. Why would a New York doctor who gave up his career to move to Italy to become an artist's artist give his work to a South Carolina monastery? Because of its abbot, Fr. Francis Kline, one of the nation's best organists and a longtime friend of the artist. "He left his work to Francis because he knew he'd protect his work and legacy," Cerasoli said. Kline, who met the artist years ago in Rome when he studied and worked there, said Tesoriere understood art in a way very few people do. "He was totally captured by the idea of art for art's sake," Kline said. He noted that many of Tesoriere's paintings were not "pretty" in the conventional sense "The real secret is to sit with a [Tesoriere] face and see how far you can get into those eyes. A show of Tesoriere's work will open May 22 in the City of Charleston's art gallery next to the Dock Street Theater. A permanent collection will reside at Mepkin Abbey. - Andy Brack |
The Rotary Club of Charleston meets 12:30 p.m. every Tuesday in Holliday Hall adjacent to The Citadel's football stadium on Hagood Street. All Rotarians are invited to visit with us.
|
|
