(Milan 1852 - 1917)
AMANTI
Watercolour. Signed and dedicated in pen at bottom right corner Conconi / all'amico E. Quarti. The dedicatee is Eugenio Quarti, a famous Milanese cabinetmaker. 589 X 477 mm.
It is very likely that the subject, referable to the 1880s, can be identified with the nocturne entitled Amanti which Raffaello Giolli writes about in his monograph on the artist, linking it to a written note by the painter. See Raffaello Giolli, Luigi Conconi, Prospetto Biografico-Critico, Rome 1920, p. 55
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.
