Historical information

Bruno LETI (1941- )
Born Rome, Italy
Arrived Australia 1950

Bruno Leti was nine years old when he came from post World War Two Italy. Known as a painter, printmaker, photographer and publisher of artists’ books, he studied at RMIT, studying Printnaking under Tate Adams, and Melbourne Teachers' College. He has taught art in Italy, Canada, USA, and Melbourne, Australia. Bruno Leti lives and works in Melbourne.

This item is part of the Federation University Art Collection. The Art Collection features over 2000 works and was listed as a 'Ballarat Treasure' in 2007.

Physical description

This etching by Bruno Leti was exhibited as part of "Parallel Prints", a limited edition print project which presents the same exhibition simultaneously in New Zealand, at Art at Wharepuke and at a gallery in another part of the world. Eleven Australian artists were invited to join New Zealand-based printmaker Mark Graver to contribute to a portfolio that will be shown simultaneously at Art at Wharepuke, New Zealand and the Art Gallery of Ballarat, Victoria. Using the uniqueness of the reproducible print allows for the same works to be viewed at the same time on opposite sides of the world. This highlights the democratic nature of printmaking and questions the aura of the unique. Which venue is showing the 'real' work? Which the reproduction?

The Australian artists showing alongside Mark Graver are James Pasakos, Bruno Leti, Martin King, David Frazer, John Neeson, Antonietta Covino-Beehre, Deborah Klein, Deborah Williams, Melissa Smith, Jodi Heffernan and Susanna Castleden.

The original concept, Parallel Prints NZ-UK in 2013, included invited artists from the UK and New Zealand. It featured the work of twelve diverse artists presented in a portfolio set. Each artist contributed one work on 300 x 300 mm paper in an edition of thirty-six. Part of the concept behind the project was to donate twelve of the portfolio sets to international collections. Institutions that have accepted a portfolio include the Victoria & Albert Museum and The Ashmolean Museum in the UK, the Jinling Museum of Art in Nanjing, China, and the Whangarei Art Museum, in New Zealand.

In 2015 a portfolio set was donated to the Federation University Art Collection.