An international festival has opened in Yekaterinburg, bringing together engraving masters working in the rare mezzo-tinto technique

YEKATERINBURG. Until the end of September, events will be held in Yekaterinburg that are part of the program of the Mezzo Tinto International Festival that opened on August 14th. For the festival, dedicated to the rare technique of ancient engravings used by modern artists, three exhibition venues have been allocated. They will host not only exhibitions, but also performances by musicians, master classes and various shows.

Two sites are located in the buildings of the EMII, for the third there was a place in the museum of design and architecture. In Yekaterinburg, the festival is held for the third time. For the first time, artists presented works in the mezzo-tinto technique in 2011.

Externally, these engravings are easy to distinguish from other types of etchings. They are characterized by tones of velvet-black shades, subtle gradations of colors, the shadow areas softly pass to the brightest spots of the image. This technique is used infrequently, as it is very time-consuming. From one printing form, no more than 15 prints can be made.

This year 95 authors from 35 countries of the world participate in the festival. Most of the expositions presented at the exhibition sites were occupied by competitive works. The competition presents approximately 600 works created by artists over the past two years.

Evaluate the entries will be an international jury. It included well-known engraving masters using mezzo-tinto technique, experts from the Pushkin Museum and the Russian Museum. Among the members of the jury there are collectors and art managers.

Among the works included in the festival expositions are engravings provided by the Ural museums from their collections. Their authors are masters who worked in the 18-19 centuries. The program “Printed Marathon” was organized, where you can see the process of creating prints.

Ludmila Trautmane © Gallerix.ru