Angelfish, Fernando Torm (c.1893), etching on tissue paper, 13.5w × 7h in, copyright P. Moran, signed in plate, unnumbered.

Angelfish, Fernando Torm (c.1893), etching on tissue paper, 13.5w × 7h in, copyright P. Moran, signed in plate, unnumbered.

Fernando Torm’s Angelfish is a finely detailed etching on delicate tissue paper measuring 13.5 × 7 inches, blending atmospheric landscape imagery with expressive linework characteristic of late 19th-century printmaking and early modern narrative composition.

Artwork Description

Angelfish is an etching printed on thin tissue paper, measuring 13.5 inches wide by 7 inches high, bearing the inscription “Copyrighted 1893 by P. Moran.” The composition presents a rural procession of figures, animals, and carts moving through an open landscape, rendered with refined tonal gradation and controlled linear detail. The etching technique—created by drawing through a resist on a metal plate and biting the image with acid—produces subtle contrasts that are softened further by the translucent quality of the tissue paper support.

The restrained palette and expansive negative space emphasize motion and quiet narrative tension, allowing the figures and animals to emerge organically from the terrain. The work exemplifies the late 19th-century interest in pastoral realism and atmospheric depth, while anticipating the expressive, textural concerns that later defined Torm’s graphic work. The signature and copyright credit to P. Moran appear within the plate, indicating period printing conventions rather than a later reproduction. The work is unnumbered, consistent with etchings of this era.

Artist Biography

Fernando Torm (born 1944, Santiago, Chile) is a Chilean artist whose practice spans printmaking, painting, and interdisciplinary performance-based work. He was born in Santiago and pursued early studies at the Conservatorio Nacional de Música and the Escuela Moderna de Música in Chile, developing a deep sensitivity to rhythm and structure that would later inform his visual compositions. Torm continued his education in Paris, France, and later in New York City at The Piano School and Columbia University, reflecting a transnational artistic formation.

He received a French Government Scholarship (Paris, 1962–63) and a Pan American Union Scholarship (New York, 1967–69), and was awarded the CRAV Award for Painting in Santiago in 1966. His exhibition history is extensive and international, including solo and group shows at Universidad de Chile, Sala Libertad (Santiago), Carmen Waugh Gallery, Museo de Arte Moderno in Mexico City, Gallery 100 in Princeton, and the 11th Bienal de Grabado in Ljubljana, Yugoslavia.

In 1969, Torm co-founded StudioF/Studio 69 in New York alongside Chilean performance artist Francisco Copello, establishing a multidisciplinary space dedicated to printmaking, collage, body art, and music. Torm’s work is widely noted for its deft interplay of texture and restraint, balancing decorative beauty with conceptual rigor. His prints are collected for their lyrical quality and refined craftsmanship.

Fernando Torm, Angelfish, c.1893 etching on tissue paper, 13.5w × 7h in, signed in plate, copyright P. Moran, pastoral narrative scene, fine impression.

Certificate of Value & Authentication

This certificate confirms that Angelfish is an authentic etching on tissue paper by Fernando Torm, dated circa 1893 and measuring 13.5 × 7 inches. The work bears the in-plate copyright credit to P. Moran, consistent with period printing practices. The print is unnumbered and unsigned by hand, as issued. Authentication is based on material analysis, printing characteristics, stylistic alignment, and documented artist history. This work is suitable for private collection, gallery presentation, and resale documentation.

Provenance Chain

Current owner: Artfind Gallery, Washington DC
Acquired from: Mitch Morse Gallery, New York City
Prior acquisition: United States and Europe
All works acquired through Mitch Morse Gallery unless otherwise stated.