Ex libris van Gianni Mantero 1907 - 1943

This etching, "Ex libris van Gianni Mantero," by Michel Fingesten, it's a small artwork. It shows two figures, almost ghostly. They are there, but slightly removed from the surface. Looking at this, I imagine Fingesten hunched over the plate, meticulously scratching away. Did he start with a clear vision, or did the figures emerge gradually, like a half-remembered dream? See how the lines are so delicate? They remind me that painting is a thoughtful conversation, not a loud declaration. The pale hues create a kind of dreamlike state in my mind. I wonder what he was thinking about as he was scratching. What I find interesting about Fingesten is that his work feels so distinctive, yet it speaks to this entire lineage of image-makers, from the Renaissance to the surrealists, who have taken the body as a site of pleasure, and also a place of weirdness. It is a reminder that we are all, as artists, in an ongoing conversation, borrowing and transforming ideas across time.