  The Tesoriere Collection: A Treasure for Mepkin Abbey will remain open through August of 2003.
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Mepkin Abbey shares Italian-American artist’s work with public An exhibition of selected paintings, watercolors and drawings of Italian-American artist Ugo Tesoriere opened May 18 at the new City of Charleston Gallery at One Vendue Range as part of a fundraising event An Evening for Mepkin to benefit Mepkin Abbey’s proposed welcome center and botanical gardens. Titled The Tesoriere Collection: A Treasure for Mepkin, the exhibit is the first for Charleston’s newest art gallery.
Co-sponsored by the City of Charleston and Mepkin Abbey, the exhibit is the first presentation of Tesoriere’s work in the United States and is a major component of this year’s Piccolo Spoleto Festival. When Tesoriere died in November 2000, he bequeathed his entire collection of more than 1000 works to Mepkin’s Abbot Francis Kline. Father Kline met Tesoriere and his wife Valeria while studying in Rome in the early 1980s. He became like a son to them, and for Tesoriere, the young priest was also a fellow artist with whom he could discuss his work, as well as literature, philosophy and theology. Their friendship grew and remained strong through the years, despite time and distance. “For Ugo, art was about honesty and truth,” said Abbot Kline. “Surrounded by several of his paintings as I sit in my office at Mepkin, I am reminded about truth, through his brutal and unrelenting search for it in art.” Born in Brooklyn, NY in 1923 to Sicilian immigrant parents, Tesoriere graduated from New York University Medical School, and practiced medicine in that city for several years. As a young doctor in his 30s, Tesoriere fell in love with art, abandoned his successful medical practice, and moved to Rome to become an artist. There he met Valeria Giannini, who later became his wife. Under her tutelage he enrolled in the Accademia di Belle Arti and experienced the great art of Europe. With Valeria’s support and guidance, Tesoriere painted for almost 40 years. The opening of the exhibit included a reception featuring gourmet food prepared by some of Charleston’s finest chefs and music by The Mark Thomas Jazz Quartet. Preceding the exhibition opening was a concert by the Emperor Trio, three superb musicians from New York who were joined by the associate principal cellist from the Charleston Symphony Orchestra, in a program of music by Brahms. The concert took place at First Scots Presbyterian Church, 53 Meeting St., at 4 p.m. The opening of The Tesoriere Collection: A Treasure for Mepkin and the reception at Charleston’s City Gallery, as well as the concert, were included in the benefit An Evening for Mepkin. Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley, Jr. and Bishop David B. Thompson, retired Roman Catholic Bishop of Charleston, were honorary co-chairs for the event.
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“The collection is a wonderful and fitting exhibit to
help us launch the City’s beautiful new Gallery at One Vendue Range,” said
Ellen Dressler Moryl, director of Charleston’s Office of Cultural Affairs.
“It will set a high standard for the gallery’s exhibition policy for years
to come.”