Touring-era caricatures on hotel stationery, two signed
Three drawings (two signed), together with a signature.
Drawings 166 x 118, 189 x 148, 239 x 198 mm, each a bust portrait executed in graphite or ink on the verso of hotel stationery. Signature on a paper slip, 120 x 110 mm. Further includes three modern reproduction portraits of the tenor (half-tone postcard and RC photo prints).
€ 2.800,00
A small set of touring period caricature busts by Caruso, characteristic of the tenor’s informal sketches made on hotel stationery while on the road.
The first drawing shows a large nosed profile, signed and dated at lower left. The second, in graphite, shows a man with high hairline and moustache facing the viewer. The third shows a profile with pince nez, signed at lower right, with Caruso’s autograph attribution on the verso identifying the sitter as "Mr. Thomas / esperto dell' incom Tax". Together with an autograph signature on a separate slip.
The hotel letterheads point to work produced during Caruso’s European and American engagements, here in Stuttgart, Oostende, New York, and Berlin - a context typical for his quick caricatures and inscriptions exchanged with acquaintances and admirers.
A representative ensemble of Caruso’s graphic wit, spanning different venues and dates and preserving the immediacy of his line on ephemeral media.
Drawings with remnants of mounting or hinging at upper corners; one with faint scattered foxing; some edges reinforced verso; faint marginal discoloration from prior matting. An unrelated photograph is mounted to the verso of the signature, with remnants of hinging at upper corners.
Cf. E. Caruso, Caricatures (New York, 1908).
