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

LUIGI RUSSOLO (Portogruaro, Venice 1885 - Cerro di Laveno 1947) TETTI (Roofs)
Etching, Maffina 21. A fine impression, before the signature in the plate, printed in black ink on wove paper, with wide margins; the sheet lightly toned, pinholes at the corners, otherwise in very good condition. Signed in pencil 'LRussolo' and titled 'Tetti'. To the platemark 150 x 71 mm, the entire sheet measuring 343 x 246 mm.

Luigi Russolo was born in Portogruaro in a family of musicians. In 1901 Russolo moved to Milan, where he began to attend the free courses organized by the Accademia di Brera. His first pictures were in the Divisionist style and close to the works of Gaetano Previati. All his prints date between 1907 and 1911; until 1909 his prints were Symbolist in style and subject matter. In 1909 Russolo showed a group of etchings at the Famiglia Artistica, where he met and became friends with Boccioni. The subject matter in both his paintings and his prints of 1909-10 is similar to that of Boccioni: views of the industrial suburbs and portraits of women in profile in interiors. In 1910, after his encounter with Marinetti, Russolo signed both the 'Manifesto of Futurist Painters ' and the 'Technical Manifesto of Futurist Painting'. Afterwards, he participated in all Futurist exhibitions up to the First World War.