Vincenzo Gemito (1852 - 1929) Ink/Wash on Paper laid on cardboard. Signed lower right. Sight Size: 6.25 x 8.5 inches. As a 12-year-old he was enrolled at the Naples Academy of Fine Art (where he became a lifelong friend of artist Antonio Mancini), and also attended the Domenico Maggiore Academy for night classes. As he was creating new works in various media in Paris, he also exhibited his works in noted salons and galleries, and at the Universal Exposition of 1878. It was at the Paris Salon the previous year where he experienced a singular triumph, with the showing of his Neapolitan Fisherboy, which he had worked on for some years to perfect. The acclaim surrounding that work alone brought him widespread fame, and lucrative commissions for portraits. He remained in Paris three years before returning to Naples (1880) after his partner died. He went to Capri for a short time, where he married Anna Cutolo. In 1883 he once again demonstrated his determination to work outside the norm when he constructed his own foundry on the via Mergellina in Naples. He did so to revive the lost-wax process for bronze casting, which had been used during the Renaissance. In 1887, Gemito was commissioned to create a marble statue of the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, to be erected outside the Royal Palace of Naples. Marble was the least liked medium for Gemito, and he fretted that this work was below his capabilities. He suffered a mental breakdown and withdrew to a one-room apartment, and spent periods in a mental hospital. For the next 21 years he worked on drawing but remained a recluse, and it wasn't until 1909 that he resumed sculpting to once again produce masterful works. In his later years, Gemito turned to gold and silver smithing, and his intricate and delicate works are much admired today. In 1952, a postage stamp was issued in Italy to celebrate the 100 years since Gemito's birth.