Ink, white lead, and pencil traces on paper prepared with a heliogravure base, the latter recognizable in the lighter, uniform, and tonal hatched areas (for example, the jacket lapels).
Heliogravure is a photogravure technique used at the turn of the 20th century, based on a photomechanical and chemical process of reproduction by engraving on copper or steel plate; the process allows for a great variety of tones and nuances, and remains today the most faithful of the photomechanical techniques left to us by the photographic experimentation of the late 19th century.
In addition to having a strong dignity and an autonomous graphic preciousness, photogravure can serve as a base for mixed media creations with pure drawing; this is precisely what happens in this small work on paper, in which Raffaele Armenise expresses his exceptional drawing skills and confirms the taste and approach learned in Naples at the school of Domenico Morelli.
Dimensions cm.32 x 22.5, perfect conservation conditions, period frame and glass.
