I just love this drawing, not least because of the wonderfully hand-cut edges of the paper, making it feel almost like a valentine. Really charming, and even better in person, as it feels so intimate and immediate to hold in ones hands! The smartly suited, kind looking subject I believe is named on the reverse and noted as being of Bologna--and indeed he looks 100% Northern Italian, as was the artist, Gaetano Pancaldi (1922-2014), from Piumazzo of Castelfranco Emilia in the province of Modena. What I know about Pancaldi, who made this drawing when he was he was quite young, is that he became quite well known as an artist in the Modena, including as a poster artist for Modena's Communist Party.
I purchased this from a seller in Italy representing Pancaldi's estate, who provided me with a piece of writing about Pancaldi's work, written much later on in his career. Here's an excerpt: "He is a poet of microcosms, of distant and by now forgotten worlds, of peasant and peasant atmospheres relived with ingenuity and sincere passion, with the eyes full of wonder and curiosity of the children of the past. He brings to life the rites of the countryside, the patient work of the oxen, the timeless gestures of the farmers and housewives, the rustic and welcoming environments in which the foods had unrepeatable flavors and the stories were born to become proverbs and nursery rhymes to be transmitted for centuries. - Valerio Massimo Manfredi.
Executed in pencil and colored pencil on "basket" or card, with colored tissue paper glued down for the frame. There is a little hole at the center of the decorative cutout at top by which it could be pinned directly to the wall, though I might frame this one. Very good condition--all the better for a little wear and aging. Signed on reverse. 5 5/8" t x 4 5/8" w.