Busacca Gallery

This signed metal etching may be considered one of the artist’s foundational works on paper. Created as a lithograph in the 1920s–1930s, it is a fine impression that masterfully captures the atmosphere of an old, working farm at the approach of sunset. While the paper is beautiful, it is in poor condition and would benefit from professional restoration. Despite this, the artwork remains a compelling and historically significant piece. During the 1920s and 1930s, copper engraving experienced a resurgence as artists sought to combine traditional craftsmanship with modern artistic sensibilities. While originally a Renaissance technique, copper engraving was embraced by printmakers of this era for its ability to produce fine detail, rich textures, and subtle tonal variations. Many artists used the medium to depict landscapes, architectural studies, and everyday life, often blending realism with emerging modernist influences. Advances in printing technology allowed for higher-quality impressions, while the growth of art societies and exhibitions helped popularize these prints among collectors, establishing copper engraving as both a continuation of classical printmaking and a medium for contemporary expression.

Copper engraving is a meticulous printmaking technique in which an artist incises a design directly onto a smooth copper plate using sharp tools called burins. Each line is carefully carved, allowing for extraordinary precision and intricate detail that can capture textures, light, and shadow with remarkable subtlety. Ink is then applied to the plate, filling the incised lines, and the surface is wiped clean so that only the engraved lines hold the ink. Pressing paper onto the plate under high pressure transfers the design, producing a crisp, enduring image with a depth and richness unmatched by many other techniques. The process demands patience, skill, and a steady hand, making each print a testament to the artist’s mastery and dedication, while the resulting works radiate both technical brilliance and expressive artistry.

Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engraving

Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, flat surface, by cutting grooves into it. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold or steel are engraved, or may provide an intaglio printing plate, of copper or another metal, for printing images on paper, which are called engravings. Engraving was a historically important method of producing images on paper, both in artistic printmaking, and also for commercial reproductions and illustrations for books and magazines. It has long been replaced by photography in its commercial applications and, partly because of the difficulty of learning the technique, is much less common in printmaking, where it has been largely replaced by etching and other techniques. Other terms often used for engravings are copper-plate engraving and Line engraving. These should all mean exactly the same, but especially in the past were often used very loosely to cover several printmaking techniques, so that many so-called engravings were in fact produced by totally different techniques, such as etching.