(Milan 1852 - 1917)
FANTI DI COPPE E SPADE
Etching (acquaforte monotipata), a fine impression of the only state, skillfully printed with black ink working on the surface tone, on thick white wove paper. Signed LConconi in the film of ink left in the plate in wiping.To the platemark 267 x 190 mm, the entire sheet measuring 540 x 386 mm. See M. Bianchi, G. Ginex, Luigi Conconi incisore, Milan, 1994; cat. no. 19.
To understand the meaning of acquaforte monotipata it is useful compare two different impressions of this print (our specimen is on the left)
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.
