An artist is a man, woman or child who observes the world around them and expresses what they think about it by making pictures or sculpture, writing stories or music, playing instruments, dancing or acting.
...from Ugo and His Pictures
Ugo Tesoriere was just such an artist.
It is rare to find the entire life's work of an artist in a single collection. It is even more uncommon to learn that the collection is an undiscovered treasure, abundant with precious gems. This is the case with the exceptional work of Ugo Tesoriere.
After his death in Rome in November 2000, the fruit of Tesoriere's labor, comprising over four hundred paintings and countless works on paper, was given to Mepkin Abbey, a Trappist monastery near Charleston, South Carolina.
In the Spring of 2003, the exhibition The Tesoriere Collection: A Treasure for Mepkin opened during the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, South Carolina. Here, this remarkable artistic legacy was introduced to the United States.