ABOUT THE WORK

Humain Sur-Humain (Human Superhuman) is an etching produced in 1959 by Roberto (Berto) Lardera. Predominantly a sculptor, Lardera created an extensive body of monumental works using rough-cut, thick metal planes, which he configured into jagged, abstract figures. To produce this etching, Lardera adopted a similar technique: cutting thick iron plates into two-dimensional intaglio forms and using them to pull the etching, applying oxblood and navy aquatint mixed with metalized carborundum. The result is a "sculptural" print that effectively duplicates the artist's patinated steel sculptures onto a paper medium. This work was printed on Arches wove paper by Paris' legendary gravure specialist Atelier Lacourière-Frélaut. The publisher is unknown.

This etching has undergone restorative treatment by an AIC specialist to regain the original brightness of the Arches paper. Please contact the gallery for more information.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Born outside of Florence in La Spezia, Italy, Berto Lardera (1911-1989) was a self-taught sculptor heavily influenced by the blueprints and metallurgy he witnessed at his hometown's nearby dockyards. This proximity led to his lifelong experimentation with various metals, including iron, aluminum, and Corten steel. Lardera started his first workshop in Florence at the ripe age of twenty-eight and participated in his first exhibition in Milan in 1942, all while participating in the Italian Resistance. He subsequently moved to Paris and exhibited in galleries and salons across Europe, including three appearances at the Venice Biennale.

Lardera constructed his early sculptures by affixing hand-cut geometric shapes onto two-dimensional, bas-relief vertical planes to illustrate how flat and incomplete forms could animate space. Even with his early sculptures, he was concerned less with the depth of his works and more with conveying volume inside narrow confines. He eventually transitioned to creating three-dimensional pieces, using exposed welds to assemble pre-cut metal pieces into fluid, animate structures. In doing so, the artist built upon the aesthetic tradition of Russian abstract sculptors Antoine Pevsner, Vladamir Tatlin, and Alexander Archipenko. After receiving worldwide sculptural commissions, Lardera would reach his pinnacle with his 1986 Grenoble Winter Games installation.

Lardera also produced numerous print editions throughout his career, segueing from collage lithographs to steel intaglio etchings that each replicated his sculptural aesthetic. Today, Lardera's work occupies the collections of Peggy Guggenheim, the Centre Pompidou, Boston's MFA, and the British Museum. His monumental sculptures also stand adjacent to the architectural works of Mies van der Rohe in Germany and Frank Lloyd Wright in the US.