(Milan 1852 - 1917)
RITRATTO DI TRANQUILLO CREMONA (Portrait of the painter Tranquillo Cremona), 1879
Etching (acquaforte monotipata), 1879; a fine impression of the second state of two, richly and skillfully printed with plate tone, on thick wove paper. Signed and dated LConconi 79 in the plate, monogrammed LC in the film of ink left in the plate in wiping. With large margins, in fine condition. To the platemark 143 x 136 mm, the entire sheet measuring 462 x 383 mm. See M. Bianchi, G. Ginex, Luigi Conconi incisore, Milan, 1994; cat. no. 5.
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.
