ANTONIO MANCINI
1852 – Rome 1930
FEMALE NUDE
monotype on tracing paper, 169 x 117 mm
signed centre left: A. Mancini
date: c. 1881
provenance:
the artist’s estate, Rome;
by descent to Erica Mancini, nice of the artist, 2023;
with Sabrier & Paunet, 2024, Paris.
Antonio Mancini renders a female nude with remarkable economy of means. A single pigment covers only a small portion of the surface, leaving large areas untouched. The paint appears to have been applied swiftly, using both a brush and, predominantly, the artist’s fingers. Visible fingerprints across the composition emphasize the immediacy of the process and underscore the tactile, experimental nature of the work.
Between October 1881 and February 1882, Antonio Mancini was admitted to a psychiatric institution, a period marked by intense artistic activity documented by the physician Michel Sciu. These monotypes were likely produced during this brief and highly experimental phase. Female Nude belongs to a small group of related monotypes, one of which bears the inscription “Dicembre 1881,” providing an important chronological reference.
Mancini visited Paris in 1875 and 1877, where he encountered leading figures of the European avant-garde, including Edgar Degas. Degas played a pivotal role in the revival of monotype at the end of the nineteenth century and explored the medium extensively; his works were highly regarded among contemporaries and collectors. Mancini’s engagement with monotype likely developed through such artistic exchange.
Monotype is an experimental and hybrid technique that produces a single, unique impression, while its preparatory process remains closely aligned with drawing or painting. Within Mancini’s oeuvre, monotypes occupy a relatively modest position: approximately twenty-five impressions are known, most executed in red and brown inks and preserved in the Gabinetto dei Disegni e delle Stampe at the Uffizi, Florence. The present work is an addition to this corpus.
Particularly notable is the use of thin and transparent paper, which allows for subtle effects of layering and luminosity. That this was a deliberate choice is indicated by the placement of signatures on the verso in some impressions. Mancini further explores the interplay between positive and negative, with forms emerging through the partial removal of ink. This direct and economical process underscores the experimental nature of the technique. The resulting images at times approach abstraction, leaving considerable interpretive space for the viewer.
Antonio Mancini was an Italian artist associated with the late 19th-century realist and proto-modern movements. Trained at the Naples Academy, he became known for his intense, psychologically charged portraits—often depicting children, street performers, and figures from everyday life. His work evolved from academic realism toward a more experimental and expressive approach, placing him somewhat outside the mainstream of his time.
Mancini is considered innovative for several reasons. Technically, he developed a highly distinctive painting method using thick layers of paint (impasto) combined with unconventional materials such as glass fragments, threads, or metallic elements embedded in the surface to enhance texture and light reflection. This gave his works a tactile, almost sculptural quality. He also experimented with composition and perception, sometimes using grids or strings stretched across the canvas to guide proportions. In printmaking, particularly in monotype, he explored the interplay between positive and negative forms, embracing chance and process in ways that anticipate later modernist practices.
Conceptually, Mancini pushed beyond straightforward representation: his works often verge on abstraction and emphasize the act of seeing rather than simply depicting. His openness to experimentation, material innovation, and expressive distortion places him among the more forward-looking artists of his generation.