Mattia Jona, Master Drawings and Prints, Japanese Prints - Piazzetta Guastalla 5, 20122 Milan, Italy, tel (+39) 02 8053315

LUIGI CONCONI (Milan 1852 - 1917) LA CASA DEL MAGO (The house of the magician)
Etching, 1880; a fine impression of the first state of two, richly and skillfully printed, working on the surface tone with monotypic effects, on strong ivory wove paper. Signed 'LConconi' in the film of ink left in the plate in wiping. With large margins, in very good condition. To the platemark 383 x 275 mm, the entire sheet measuring 630 x 460 mm. See M. Bianchi, G. Ginex, 'Luigi Conconi incisore', Milan, 1994; cat. no. 7.
The print shows the interior of the desecrated Milanese church of San Vincenzo in Prato, turned into a chemical factory. The decay of this building has been repeatedly depicted by Conconi in paintings and etchings. See, for example, the etching 'Le streghe'.

Luigi Conconi was an architect, painter and illustrator. Born in a Milanese middle-class family, he was the nephew of the painter Mauro Conconi. Luigi studied architecture at the Accademia di Brera and at the Politecnico in Milan, and he used his architectural training occasionally throughout his career. Since his years at the Politecnico, he became acquainted with the literary and artistic circles of the Scapigliatura and Tranquillo Cremona and Daniele Ranzoni influenced his early paintings. In the 1880s Conconi moved from the Realism of Scapigliatura toward the Symbolism, developing an interest in visionary themes. He received the international recognition of prizes in Paris in 1900 and in Munich in 1913. Conconi was also a skilful and sensitive printmaker, who revived the art of the etching in Lombardy, being the leading exponent of the 'acquaforte monotipata', an etching printed with a large amount of ink left on the plate, creating evocative effects. Conconi printed personally almost all his own plates.