Dario Wolf, “Gli Amici, (The Friends)”, 1924, Copper Etching, 16.7 x 13 cm, Private Collection
Dario Wolf was born in Trento, Italy on December 3, 1901. He completed high school in Rome with honors in the art of composition and painting of the nude. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts under the guidance of Sigismund Lipinskj. In 1924, still a student, Wolf won the Calderon prize for his entered drawing of a nude.
He started his career as an engraver in 1921 with the wood engraving “Furor Animae” and established himself as an etcher with the plates “Powerful-Powerless”, “Superstition” and “Destiny”. He was a member of the Group of Engravers and Roman Artists, composed of twenty-five Italian and foreign artists.
Dario Wolf devoted himself to the process of etching on metal and the technique of aquatint, producing “The Accordion Player”, on a large zinc plate in 1957. He was one of the very few who devoted themselves to engraving in steel technology, the “black style” as attested by his important 1963 engravings:: his “Ethiopian” in 1966, and his “Vicolo dei Birri” in 1968.
“Etching is an art that can benefit more than any other to express moods fleeting, to realize the innermost thoughts and most complex, to express the life of things real and unreal atmosphere that goes from deep velvety shadows stretched to wrap lights enchanted ”- Dario Wolf