Artwork
Portrait of Serge Reggiani
Portrait of Serge Reggiani is a print by Jaume Estapà. It dates from 1969 and is held in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum.
About this work
This print shows Serge Reggiani’s face made entirely of M, O, X and * symbols. Jaume Estapà built it in 1969 with no brush or paint—just typed characters.
Back then printers couldn’t draw pictures, so artists used keyboard symbols instead. Estapà layered the same four keys over and over to shade the face.
Check out more classic ASCII art at the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Overview
This print is a portrait of Serge Reggiani, created by Jaume Estapà in 1969 using ASCII art, a technique that employs text characters to form images.
Technique & Style
The portrait is composed entirely of the characters M, O, X, and *, layered to create shading and depth. This was achieved using an early impact printer, likely a daisy wheel printer, which printed characters by striking a raised typeface against a ribbon.
Subject & Meaning
The subject is Serge Reggiani, an Italian-born singer, painter, and actor. The portrait showcases the artist's ability to create a recognizable image using a limited character set.
Context
ASCII art emerged as a response to the limitations of early computer printers, which could not output graphical images. The characteristic light grey stripes in the background reflect the design of early computer printing paper.
Artist & collection
Artist
Jaume Estapà made expressive prints of well-known faces in the late 1960s. His 1968 portrait of Catherine Sauvage catches the French singer’s sharp gaze, while his 1969 portrait of Serge Reggiani shows the actor’s quiet…
