Zingara che si pettina (Gypsy combing her hair)

Born in Cupramontana near Ancona, Luigi Bartolini was the twentieth century Italian etcher, who came closest to the stature of his great rival, Morandi. As a teenager, he saw the collection of etchings, including work by Callot, owned by the Corradi family in Iesi. From 1907 to 1910 Bartolini studied at the Istituto di Belle Arti in Siena, and started to etch c. 1909. He moved to Rome in 1910, where until 1912 he frequented the Accademia di Belle Arti, while also attending lectures on literature and the history of art, and courses on anatomy at the University in Rome. Bartolini studied the etchings of Goya and took lessons on drawing at the Accademia di Spagna. From there, he went to Florence in 1913, where he attended the Scuola del nudo. Bartolini continued his anatomical research, as well as studying architecture, making himself the most assiduous student of all Italian twentieth century printmakers. He also visited the Uffizi and Florentine print dealers to look at the etchings of Rembrandt and Fattori. Bartolini painted his first oils just before the outbreak of the First World War. Although he painted pictures throughout the rest of his career, and was awarded the Premio Marzotto for them in 1956, they have been far eclipsed in fame by his etchings and writings. During the First World War, Bartolini published his first collection of poetry. A very prolific and accomplished writer, in this field he is best known today as the author of the novel, 'Ladri di biciclette' (Bicycle thieves), of 1946, which was quickly turned into a celebrated film by Vittorio de Sica and Cesar Zavattini. After the First World War, Bartolini held a series of minor teaching posts in Macerata, Sassari, Avezzano, Pola, and Caltagirone, while he continued to etch, and started a long career as a polemical journalist and critic of art and architecture. From 1923 to 1929, he wrote for the Naples periodical, 'Cimento', but he also contributed to 'Il Selvaggio', 'Quadrivio', 'Italia letteraria', and 'L'Ambrosiana'. Bartolini's 1924 exhibition of etchings at the Casa d'Arte Bragaglia in Rome was a great success, and later that year he showed 70 etched landscapes of the Marches at the Casa Palazzo di Roma. The following year he visited Paris, where he paid particular attention to the paintings of Van Gogh. Bartolini's political convictions led him to being assaulted by Fascists and hospitalised in 1928. Two years later, he won a prize at the Venice Biennale, where he had exhibited a portfolio of etchings. In 1930, the Turin publisher, Buratti, began to issue a series of portfolios of etchings by contemporary Italian artists under the editorship of Cipriano Oppi, selecting Bartolini for the first album. The following year, Buratti published 'Le carte parlanti', a portfolio of 10 of Bartolini's etchings, which was published in an edition of 20. In 1932, Bartolini shared the first prize at the Prima mostra dell'incisione moderna at the Uffizi with Morandi and Boccioni. His close friend, the leading anti-Fascist art historian, Lionello Venturi, acted as his agent selling his etchings in Paris. Bartolini's correspondence with his compatriots in exile led to his imprisonment, from which he was released on Mussolini's personal intervention. He was then placed under political surveillance. From 1933 to 1938, Bartolini taught in Merano, where he painted and etched in the open air, finding subjects on the banks of the fast flowing Adige. Despite being under political suspicion, he was given a one - man show of 50 etchings at the second Rome Quadriennale in 1935, when he was awarded the first prize for printmaking. Bartolini still encountered political difficulties, and his 'Modi', published by Edizioni del Cavallino in 1938, was censured by Alfieri, a government minister. Nevertheless, it was another minister, Bottai, who opened his one - man show at the Galleria di San Marco in Rome in 1943. The 1930s and 1940s were Bartolini's most prolific period as an etcher. He made as many as 99 in 1936, and 81 in 1943. Bartolini frequently illustrated his own writings. In 1943, 'Sante e cavalla', a set of 12 etchings, were printed under his direction at the Calcografia Nazionale, and published by Edizioni Documenta in Rome, while Tumminelli, another Roman publisher, issued his 'Vita di Anna Stickler', which was illustrated by 20 etchings. These were followed in 1946 by Bartolini's illustrations to Rimbaud's 'Les illuminations', and 'Une saison en enfer', which were published by De Luigi, also in Rome. In 1953, his 'Addio e sogni: 6 poesie et 6 acqueforti' was published in Milan by Giovanni Scheiwiller's all' insegna del pesce d'oro, while the following year, in Florence, Vallecchi published his 'La caccia al fagiano', which was illustrated by seven of his etchings. Bartolini's final 'livres d'artiste', illustrations to Leopardi's 'Canti', and to his own 'L'eremo dei Frati bianchi', and 'Testamento per Luciana', were published in 1962 and 1963 by Renzo Bucciarelli in Ancona. Bartolini also made a small number of lithographs. In 1948, he was one of the artists who illustrated the memorial volume, 'Elegia in morte di Ines Fila'. The Florentine workshop, 'Il Bisonte', published two portfolios in 1962, one consisting of six of his lithographs, the other of 6 of his etchings. (Text from Martin Hopkinson, 'Italian Prints 1875-1975')