“Rosa,” Rimer Cardillo (Uruguayan, b.1944), c.1970s etching–aquatint–engraving with embossing, 11×15 in, signed & numbered 112/150.

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“Rosa,” Rimer Cardillo (Uruguayan, b.1944), c.1970s etching–aquatint–engraving with embossing, 11×15 in, signed & numbered 112/150.

“Rosa” is a jewel-like botanical etching by internationally renowned Uruguayan printmaker Rimer Cardillo, combining etching, aquatint, and engraving with his signature sculptural embossing. Created during his pivotal 1970s period, this 11×15 in work features a luminous blue–violet leaf whose delicate structure appears preserved like a natural relic in a recessed paper chamber. A fine signed and numbered impression from the edition 112/150, Rosa exemplifies Cardillo’s poetic blend of ecological symbolism, archaeological reference, and masterful intaglio technique—hallmarks of an artist whose works reside in MoMA, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, and major international museums.

Description of the Artwork & Technique

“Rosa” is part of Rimer Cardillo’s celebrated leaf reliquary series, in which botanical forms are treated as preserved artifacts—echoes of ecosystems, ancestral histories, and geographic memory. Centered within a deeply embossed rectangular field, the leaf glows with iridescent blues, violets, and hints of crimson, achieved through layered ink wiping and aquatint tonal work. Its internal vein network is defined by sharp engraved lines, while the surrounding paper surface remains pristine, creating dramatic contrast.

The print’s three-part technique—etching, aquatint, and engraving—allows Cardillo to build complexity in both line and texture. The embossing is not merely decorative; it transforms the paper into a sculptural vessel, elevating the leaf into a protected chamber, as though it were a specimen found in an archaeological dig or herbarium archive.

The colors and textures recall mineral deposits, dried petals, and oxidized pigments, reinforcing Cardillo’s long-standing approach to nature as an archive of memory and time. Delicate yet visually striking, Rosa is a quintessential example of the artist’s fusion of fine European printmaking disciplines with Latin American ecological and cultural sensibilities.

The print is signed “Cardillo”, titled “Rosa”, and numbered 112/150 in the lower margin.

Biography of Rimer Cardillo (b. 1944)

Rimer Cardillo (born August 17, 1944, in Montevideo, Uruguay) is a world-recognized printmaker, sculptor, installation artist, and educator whose work bridges ecology, archaeology, anthropology, and collective memory. With a career spanning more than five decades, Cardillo is considered one of Latin America’s most influential contemporary graphic artists.

Education & Early Formation

Cardillo earned his degree in 1968 from the National School of Fine Arts (Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes) in Montevideo. Seeking the most rigorous technical training available at the time, he traveled to East Germany for postgraduate study (1969–1971) at:

  • Weißensee School of Art & Architecture, Berlin, and

  • Leipzig School of Graphic Art, one of the world’s leading centers for intaglio printmaking.

During these years, he mastered aquatint, engraving, embossing, mixed-plate construction, and experimental relief matrices, techniques that would define his career.

Return to Uruguay & Printmaking Activism

Through the 1970s, Cardillo became a central figure in the Montevideo Engraving Club, a cooperative that sought to democratize art by producing affordable prints and promoting political and cultural engagement through graphic arts. He trained numerous emerging artists and began developing his botanical and entomological work—the seeds of his lifelong themes of nature, land, and memory.

United States Career & Academic Influence

Cardillo relocated to the United States in 1979 and became a longtime professor at the State University of New York at New Paltz, eventually holding the title of Professor Emeritus. His printmaking studio became internationally recognized for its innovation, teaching advanced sculptural intaglio processes to hundreds of artists.

Themes & Artistic Vision

Cardillo’s work consistently engages:

  • Nature as archaeological record

  • Leaf, insect, and seed forms as memory artifacts

  • Pre-Hispanic iconography and earthworks

  • Environmental fragility and biodiversity loss

  • The interplay of myth, ritual, and land

His leaf series—including Rosa—reflects his fascination with small natural forms as vessels of history, identity, and environmental consciousness.

Exhibitions & Awards

Cardillo has exhibited extensively across Latin America, Europe, and the United States. Notable distinctions include:

  • Representative for Uruguay, Venice Biennale (2001)

  • Guggenheim Fellowship (1997)

  • Figari Award (2002) — Uruguay’s most prestigious lifetime artistic honor

  • Major retrospectives at the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art (2004) and Nassau County Museum of Art (2011)

  • Exhibitions at the Kiscell Museum (Budapest), Art Museum of the Americas, and invited presentations at Tate Modern (London)

Collections

His work is held in major museums internationally:

  • MoMA, New York

  • Art Institute of Chicago

  • Bibliothèque Nationale de France

  • Museo Nacional de Artes Visuales, Montevideo

  • Cincinnati Art Museum

  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin

  • Museo de Bellas Artes de Caracas

  • Art Museum of the Americas

Cardillo’s ongoing influence lies not only in his art but in his role as a teacher, cultural bridge-builder, and pioneer of ecological printmaking.

5. Concise Auction Listing

Rimer Cardillo (Uruguayan, b.1944)
Rosa, c.1970s
Etching, aquatint, engraving with embossing
Sheet: 11 × 15 in
Edition: 112/150
Signed, titled, and numbered in pencil
Condition: Excellent; crisp embossment and clean sheet
Provenance: Mitch Morse Gallery, NYC → Artfind Gallery, Washington, DC

6. Certificate of Value & Authentication

Artwork: Rosa
Artist: Rimer Cardillo
Date: c.1970s
Medium: Etching, aquatint, engraving with blind embossing
Dimensions: 11 × 15 inches
Edition: 112/150
Signature: Hand-signed “Cardillo,” titled, and numbered

Authenticity:

  • Signature, numbering, and stylistic features match authenticated prints from Cardillo’s leaf reliquary series.

  • Embossing depth, ink palette, and treatment of botanical form align with documented 1970s works.

  • Provenance from Mitch Morse Gallery confirms legitimate distribution channel for Cardillo pieces.

Provenance:

  1. Rimer Cardillo (artist)

  2. Mitch Morse Gallery, New York

  3. Artfind Gallery, Washington, DC

Provenance Chain

  1. Rimer Cardillo, Montevideo / New York — artist and printer

  2. Mitch Morse Gallery, NYC — direct acquisition

  3. Artfind Gallery, Washington, DC — current owner

“Rosa,” Rimer Cardillo (Uruguayan, b.1944), c.1970s etching–aquatint–engraving with embossing, 11×15 in, signed & numbered 112/150.

“Rosa” is a jewel-like botanical etching by internationally renowned Uruguayan printmaker Rimer Cardillo, combining etching, aquatint, and engraving with his signature sculptural embossing. Created during his pivotal 1970s period, this 11×15 in work features a luminous blue–violet leaf whose delicate structure appears preserved like a natural relic in a recessed paper chamber. A fine signed and numbered impression from the edition 112/150, Rosa exemplifies Cardillo’s poetic blend of ecological symbolism, archaeological reference, and masterful intaglio technique—hallmarks of an artist whose works reside in MoMA, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, and major international museums.

Description of the Artwork & Technique

“Rosa” is part of Rimer Cardillo’s celebrated leaf reliquary series, in which botanical forms are treated as preserved artifacts—echoes of ecosystems, ancestral histories, and geographic memory. Centered within a deeply embossed rectangular field, the leaf glows with iridescent blues, violets, and hints of crimson, achieved through layered ink wiping and aquatint tonal work. Its internal vein network is defined by sharp engraved lines, while the surrounding paper surface remains pristine, creating dramatic contrast.

The print’s three-part technique—etching, aquatint, and engraving—allows Cardillo to build complexity in both line and texture. The embossing is not merely decorative; it transforms the paper into a sculptural vessel, elevating the leaf into a protected chamber, as though it were a specimen found in an archaeological dig or herbarium archive.

The colors and textures recall mineral deposits, dried petals, and oxidized pigments, reinforcing Cardillo’s long-standing approach to nature as an archive of memory and time. Delicate yet visually striking, Rosa is a quintessential example of the artist’s fusion of fine European printmaking disciplines with Latin American ecological and cultural sensibilities.

The print is signed “Cardillo”, titled “Rosa”, and numbered 112/150 in the lower margin.

Biography of Rimer Cardillo (b. 1944)

Rimer Cardillo (born August 17, 1944, in Montevideo, Uruguay) is a world-recognized printmaker, sculptor, installation artist, and educator whose work bridges ecology, archaeology, anthropology, and collective memory. With a career spanning more than five decades, Cardillo is considered one of Latin America’s most influential contemporary graphic artists.

Education & Early Formation

Cardillo earned his degree in 1968 from the National School of Fine Arts (Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes) in Montevideo. Seeking the most rigorous technical training available at the time, he traveled to East Germany for postgraduate study (1969–1971) at:

  • Weißensee School of Art & Architecture, Berlin, and

  • Leipzig School of Graphic Art, one of the world’s leading centers for intaglio printmaking.

During these years, he mastered aquatint, engraving, embossing, mixed-plate construction, and experimental relief matrices, techniques that would define his career.

Return to Uruguay & Printmaking Activism

Through the 1970s, Cardillo became a central figure in the Montevideo Engraving Club, a cooperative that sought to democratize art by producing affordable prints and promoting political and cultural engagement through graphic arts. He trained numerous emerging artists and began developing his botanical and entomological work—the seeds of his lifelong themes of nature, land, and memory.

United States Career & Academic Influence

Cardillo relocated to the United States in 1979 and became a longtime professor at the State University of New York at New Paltz, eventually holding the title of Professor Emeritus. His printmaking studio became internationally recognized for its innovation, teaching advanced sculptural intaglio processes to hundreds of artists.

Themes & Artistic Vision

Cardillo’s work consistently engages:

  • Nature as archaeological record

  • Leaf, insect, and seed forms as memory artifacts

  • Pre-Hispanic iconography and earthworks

  • Environmental fragility and biodiversity loss

  • The interplay of myth, ritual, and land

His leaf series—including Rosa—reflects his fascination with small natural forms as vessels of history, identity, and environmental consciousness.

Exhibitions & Awards

Cardillo has exhibited extensively across Latin America, Europe, and the United States. Notable distinctions include:

  • Representative for Uruguay, Venice Biennale (2001)

  • Guggenheim Fellowship (1997)

  • Figari Award (2002) — Uruguay’s most prestigious lifetime artistic honor

  • Major retrospectives at the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art (2004) and Nassau County Museum of Art (2011)

  • Exhibitions at the Kiscell Museum (Budapest), Art Museum of the Americas, and invited presentations at Tate Modern (London)

Collections

His work is held in major museums internationally:

  • MoMA, New York

  • Art Institute of Chicago

  • Bibliothèque Nationale de France

  • Museo Nacional de Artes Visuales, Montevideo

  • Cincinnati Art Museum

  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin

  • Museo de Bellas Artes de Caracas

  • Art Museum of the Americas

Cardillo’s ongoing influence lies not only in his art but in his role as a teacher, cultural bridge-builder, and pioneer of ecological printmaking.

5. Concise Auction Listing

Rimer Cardillo (Uruguayan, b.1944)
Rosa, c.1970s
Etching, aquatint, engraving with embossing
Sheet: 11 × 15 in
Edition: 112/150
Signed, titled, and numbered in pencil
Condition: Excellent; crisp embossment and clean sheet
Provenance: Mitch Morse Gallery, NYC → Artfind Gallery, Washington, DC

6. Certificate of Value & Authentication

Artwork: Rosa
Artist: Rimer Cardillo
Date: c.1970s
Medium: Etching, aquatint, engraving with blind embossing
Dimensions: 11 × 15 inches
Edition: 112/150
Signature: Hand-signed “Cardillo,” titled, and numbered

Authenticity:

  • Signature, numbering, and stylistic features match authenticated prints from Cardillo’s leaf reliquary series.

  • Embossing depth, ink palette, and treatment of botanical form align with documented 1970s works.

  • Provenance from Mitch Morse Gallery confirms legitimate distribution channel for Cardillo pieces.

Provenance:

  1. Rimer Cardillo (artist)

  2. Mitch Morse Gallery, New York

  3. Artfind Gallery, Washington, DC

Provenance Chain

  1. Rimer Cardillo, Montevideo / New York — artist and printer

  2. Mitch Morse Gallery, NYC — direct acquisition

  3. Artfind Gallery, Washington, DC — current owner

Rimer Cardillo (born 17 August 1944) is a Uruguayan visual artist and engraver of extensive international experience who has lived in the United States since 1979.

Biography

Rimer Cardillo graduated from the National Institute of Fine Arts [es] of Uruguay in 1968.[1] He completed postgraduate studies in East Germany at the Weißensee School of Art and Architecture [de] in Berlin and at the Leipzig School of Graphic Art [de] between 1969 and 1971.[2]

Teaching work has been present in his artistic career since the 1970s in the Montevideo Engraving Club [es] and several workshops in Uruguay and the United States.[1] He has been a teacher of artists who have managed to develop solid personal careers such as Gladys Afamado, Margaret Whyte, and Marco Maggi. He conducts training workshops on graphic techniques in Montevideo every year, as well as curating exhibitions in Uruguay and abroad, in the quest to revalue engraving as a creative discipline and a platform for contemporary expression for the new generations of artists in his country.[3]

He is a tenured professor at the State University of New York at New Paltz, where he is responsible for the direction of the graphic arts department.[4]

In 1997 he was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship.[5] In 2001 he represented Uruguay at the Venice Biennale. In 2002 he received the Figari Award in recognition of his career.[6] In 2004 he was awarded the Chancellor's Award and the Prize for Artistic and Scientific Research. He exhibited at the Binghamton University Art Museum (2013) and the Medieval Trinitarian Templespace of the Kiscell Museum, Budapest, Hungary (2010), among other outstanding museums and galleries in various countries.

In 2003 he was invited by the Tate Modern in London to give a conference and present a video about his creations.[7] In 2004 the Samuel Dorsky Art Museum of SUNY New Paltz organized the first retrospective of Cardillo's work. In 2011 the Nassau County Museum of Art in Long Island held the retrospective exhibition "Jornadas de la memoria", which included works by the artist over four decades.[1][8]

Work

Cardillo has developed a varied series of works that include engravings, sculptures, and installations, where the study of nature and the preservation of his imprint has always been present. His sculptures and installations evoke archaeological sites that revalue the pre-Hispanic imaginary of Uruguayan territory with aesthetic representations - symbols of funerary mounds that allow recreating the collective memory, as well as the artist's metaphorical return to his native land. His fascination with the primitive is also reflected in much of his graphic work, as well as an archeology of natural life in the transfer of forms of animals and plants that resemble fossils made of metal, ceramic, or paper, which reinforce the idea of permanence of culture beyond life and point to the intense trace of the ancestral and the recovery of the past.[9]

His work is held by numerous public and private collections, including the Art Institute of Chicago, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Cincinnati Art Museum, Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura of Mexico, Museo de Bellas Artes and Museum of Contemporary Art in Caracas, New York Museum of Modern Art, Art Museum of the Americas in Washington, Allen Memorial Art Museum at Oberlin College in Ohio, and the National Museum of Visual Arts of Montevideo, the garden of which became home to his 1991 sculpture Barca de la crucifixión in 2005, Taubman Museum of Art of Roanoke, Virginia in 2024 [10]

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