Hans Figura (Vienna, Austria 1898-1978) was well known for his European and American landscape and cityscape aquatint etchings. He exhibited his prints and original oil paintings in various international venues during his lifetime. Walter Meibohm worked with Mr. Figura personally post WWII and maintained a friendship with him until his death in 1978.
Aquatinting, like etching is an acid based process, and is quite complex. It uses acid-resistant Bitumen dust instead of wax, which is laid on the plate and then heated causing the dust to adhere to the plate. It is then immersed in acid which eats away the copper around the dust grains, creating a thin web of lines. The technique imitates different tone levels, much like water color washes. Different lengths of time in the acid bath produce a variety of tonal shading. It can produce subtle color tones and at other times with brilliant results.