Mr. Kasimir needs no introduction; his etchings have been popular in this country for 40 years, ever since he came to the U.S. to do a series of etchings of famous sights from New York skyscrapers to the imposing scenery of Yosemite Valley.
Luigi Kasimir was born in 1881 in the town of Pettau, at that time a part of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. He attended the Vienna Academy of Art, which was to be of two-fold importance to him: first, he studied under William Unger, who gave Kasimir his first introduction to the technique of the colored etching. Secondly, he met Tanna Hoernes, who became his wife.
Luigi inherited his talent from his ancestors, as did his son, Robert; his grandfather was a painter and a poet, and his father an officer in the Hapsburg army, who later became a professional painter.
As for Kasimir’s technique: black and white etchings had been popular for hundreds of years, but Luigi Kasimir was among the first to develop the technique of the color etching. Before him, etchings were usually hand-colored, with the color being applied in a sloppy, haphazard manner. If the etching were not hand-colored, then a single plate would have been used to apply all of the color. Luigi Kasimir created a system of using multiple plates to render color. He first did a sketch from nature, usually in pastel. Then he transferred the design onto as many as four to six plates, applied the color, then printed the plates with exact precision, all by hand of course. The finished etching is a true original.
Mr. Kasimir’s etchings can be seen in all of the great galleries and museums, from the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art to countless galleries and fine print collections around the world. Luigi Kasimir died in 1962 in Grinzing, a suburb of Vienna.