Enrico Caruso Original Self-Portrait Signed Sketch.

CARUSO, Enrico.

Item Number: 81014

Original self-portrait sketch by Caruso, showing himself in profile, boldly signed by him, “Enrico Caruso London 1905.”In near fine condition. The drawing measures 5.75 inches by 6.25 inches. Double matted and framed. The entire piece measures 16.75 inches by 18.75 inches.

Enrico Caruso was an Italian operatic tenor. He sang to great acclaim at the major opera houses of Europe and the Americas, appearing in a wide variety of roles from the Italian and French repertoires that ranged from the lyric to the dramatic. Caruso also made approximately 260 commercially released recordings from 1902 to 1920. Caruso's 25-year career, stretching from 1895 to 1920, included 863 appearances at the New York Metropolitan Opera before he died at the age of 48. Thanks in part to his tremendously popular phonograph records, Caruso was one of the most famous personalities of his day and his fame has endured to the present. He was one of the first examples of a global media celebrity. Beyond records, Caruso's name became familiar to millions through newspapers, books, magazines, and the new media technology of the 20th century: cinema, the telephone and telegraph.