Night in Etruria

Rudy O. Pozzatti

"Night in Etruria" was the third print commissioned from Pozzatti by the International Graphic Arts Society (IGAS). IGAS published a number of original prints every year in editions of 210. 100 of these were sold in Europe and 100 in the US, there were 10 proofs for the artist. With this business model an artist's work could develop an international following, and many museums subscribed to their publications.

In 1963 Pozzatti returned to Italy with a Guggenheim travel grant which was for an extended and comprehensive examination of Ertruscan art. During the year he visited all the Ertruscan sites: Tarquinia, Volterra, Perugia, Assisi, etc.

Pozzatti attacked the zinc plate, using a combination of etching, soft-ground, and engraving to create an active surface, an abstract expressionist-like composition that evokes ancient walls, the ruins of an ancient civiliztion or the underground caves that abound in the area.