(Milan 1852 - 1917)
SAN GIUSTO, 1915
Etching, a fine impression of the only state, skillfully printed with black ink working on the surface tone, on thick white wove paper. Signed with the monogram LC in the plate; numbered and signed in pencil at the bottom right margin N 19/50 LConconi.
To the platemark 75 x 220 mm, the entire sheet measuring 325 x 454 mm. See M. Bianchi, G. Ginex, Luigi Conconi incisore, Milan, 1994; cat. no. 62.
The etching was commissioned to Conconi by the Milanese Società del Giardino in 1915, to be used as an artistic membership card for the year 1916. The print depicts an allegory of the desired annexation of Trieste to Italy.
Conconi studied architecture at the Accademia di Brera and the Politecnico di Milano. He came into contact with members of the literary and artistic circles of the Scapigliatura – the Italian equivalent of the French Bohème– notably Tranquillo Cremona and Daniele Ranzoni, both of whom influenced his early paintings. In the 1880s Conconi moved from the Realism of Scapigliatura toward Symbolism. The awards he received in Paris in 1900 and Munich in 1913 led to his international recognition.
Conconi, who personally saw to the production of virtually all his plates, was the leading exponent in Lombardy of Acquaforte monotipata. This technique involved the artist drawing directly onto the ink covering the plate, prior to pulling the impression. In this way each resultant print has different characteristics.
