Luigi Conconi

Luigi Conconi quotations

Luigi Conconi’s works linked to the Scapigliatura movement are those that attract the most attention on the market. Medium-sized oil on canvas paintings are priced on average between 2,500 and 9,000 euros, with the possibility of exceeding 15,000 euros for subjects of particular intensity or iconographic originality.

Large canvases, also attributable to the Scapigliatura movement, fetch higher prices, generally between €16,000 and €27,000.

Works on paper – watercolours and mixed media – range from €350 to €3,200, varying according to the quality of execution and the rarity of the subject. Etchings are priced between €250 and €1,400, with variations determined by format, condition and subject matter.

Please note that these figures are indicative only: each valuation depends on a number of factors such as date, technique, size and condition. The gallery is available to provide a free, targeted estimate of your work by Luigi Conconi.

Biography

Luigi Conconi was born in Milan in 1852 into a middle-class family and was the nephew of the Romantic painter Mauro Conconi. After completing his classical studies, in 1872 he enrolled at the Brera School of Architecture, where he graduated two years later. From the outset, he cultivated a wide range of interests: in addition to architecture, he devoted himself to painting, music and engraving, also participating in political life and writing extensively for the socialist magazine “Lotta di classe”. During his formative years, he forged relationships with Luca Beltrami and Guido Pisani Dossi, for whom he designed the family villa in the province of Como.

La Scapigliatura between engraving and painting

Thanks to his open character and cultural vivacity, Conconi soon entered the circle of the Milanese Scapigliatura, becoming friends with Daniele Ranzoni and, above all, Tranquillo Cremona, whose studio he frequented assiduously. During these years, he combined architecture with painting and, above all, engraving, a technique that fascinated him to the point of prompting him to experiment in original ways. In 1876, he presented his first etching, Palazzo Marino, in Paris, receiving such success that he was convinced to continue along this path. In collaboration with the sculptor Giuseppe Grandi, he invented the technique of monotype etching, which combines technical rigour with the visionary atmospheres dear to the Scapigliatura sensibility.

However, he continued to paint. His evanescent and Scapigliato brushstrokes characterise canvases such as Coppia danzante (Dancing Couple), Confidenze (Confidences), La sorellina Annetta (Little Sister Annetta) and La signora Mantegazza (Mrs Mantegazza), where the figures interpenetrate each other until they are lost in the moving and vibrant air of the background.

Success, politics and later years

In the 1980s, Conconi founded the satirical magazine Guerin Meschino with some colleagues, for which he produced most of the illustrations. He shared a studio with Gaetano Previati and opened a commercial enterprise with him, which was, however, destined to fail. In the 1990s, he married Eugenia Dal Co and returned decisively to painting, creating canvases with medieval subjects and portraits that he exhibited at Brera and at the Venice Biennales. At the same time, he intensified his political commitment: he taught drawing to workers, became a municipal councillor in Milan in the socialist ranks and promoted cultural initiatives for the city.

On the eve of the 20th century, he continued to work in both painting and engraving, favouring the latter for its evocative power. In 1916, he received first prize from the Association of Italian Etchers and Engravers in London, but the following year he died in Milan, leaving behind the image of a restless, experimental and eclectic artist.