The Principality of Monaco and the Riviera is, after Paris, the region where artists have traditionally chosen to live and work. From the nineteenth century it has attracted famous artists because of its mild climate and accessibility to major European capitals. The Irish artist Matthew Moss is known internationally as the painter of the Principality of Monaco and of the Riviera's ancient hill villages and olive groves. The artist's paintings show his love of the Monegasque landscape with its ancient fortified town walls embedded in the Rock where they contrast with the bright blue of the Mediterranean.
He was born in Dublin, Ireland and went to study at the Central Institute of Restoration in Rome the principal institute in Europe for the study of Old Master paintings. Here he could measure his own experience of Old Masters with that of other researchers and artists. He then joined the National Gallery of Ireland, considered one of the twelve most important art museums of Europe. Matthew Moss was the founder of the museum's conservation centre and the first restorer of Old Master paintings of the National Gallery. The artist pursued his studies of Flemish Old Masters like Gerard David and Peter Paul Rubens at the Institut Royal du Patrimoine Artistique, in Brussels. Later, he worked on Old Master prints and drawings at the British Museum in London.
Now living in the fairy-tale Principality of Monaco, Matthew shows his enjoyment of the drama created by handling pigments. His style of painting is strong and cultivated, balanced in composition and is conscious of its cultural origins. It is a vision of a profoundly contemplative life, the result of the artist's meticulous and meditative researches as a conservator of the Old Masters. Matthew Moss shares a similar cultural background with George Braque: both were the sons of painters who, in turn, stimulated in them a love for the materials and technique used in painting. Matthew Moss' notable technical skill is due to his deep knowledge of Old Masters' techniques. The beauties of the Monaco landscape inspire him to paint a vision of the Principality of Monaco seen through the eyes of an artist. Matthew Moss: the man and the artist, a book that was written about the artist is a portrait of an Irish modern master that traces his early determination to persevere in the creation of a new type of reality. The result is visible to all in these painting.