Planche aux Quatre Techniques 1958

Curator: This etching by Mario Avati, titled "Planche aux Quatre Techniques," was completed in 1958. Immediately striking, isn't it? Editor: Utterly unsettling! There’s a distinct air of grotesque theater here. The heavy shading and bizarre character design creates an incredibly disturbing mood. Is this meant to be a reflection of some societal ill? Curator: It might well be. Avati frequently used caricature to express, even to amplify, certain archetypes. These are figures of entertainment, seemingly, but twisted. Editor: Observe how the artist fractures the composition into four distinct panels, each vignette acting as its own contained narrative—or nightmare, depending on how you see it. And the textures, that obsessive hatching, give the entire image an almost tactile quality. Curator: Exactly! Those meticulous details. Note, for instance, the deliberate crudeness alongside refined textures, especially on the hands, that creates a real tension. Symbolically, I’m compelled to wonder about the meaning of these hands that recur across all the segments. Are they clapping in applause or expressing some form of frantic supplication? Editor: That is, perhaps, where the image gains its real power—in that ambiguous tension. There's almost no empty space within each quadrant; that cramped composition further amplifies that unsettling atmosphere. What sort of techniques do you suspect Avati alludes to in the title? Curator: Etching involves many individual actions that Avati seems to blend for the composition's benefit. The contrasts are vivid, but controlled, and the line work reveals a mastery over his methods. If you want an allegorical message about modern image-making, maybe it is about those tensions between artistic technique, intention, and ultimately interpretation. Editor: Interesting. Despite its small size, the overall impact of this print is monumental, casting a dark and lingering shadow. Curator: Indeed. Even in caricature, Avati touches something fundamental about human expression and its fragility, making “Planche aux Quatre Techniques” memorable in uncomfortable ways.