31st Oct, 2016 20:00
Historic, Modern & Contemporary Art
31
Edoardo Villa (Italy 1915-2011)
Homage to Maillol
painted steel on a steel base,
Artwork date: 1965
Signature details: signed and dated
Exhibited: Nirox Sculpture Park, Kromdraai, Edoardo Villa Changing Worlds, 2007.
Literature: Nel, K. (2006). Villa at 90. Johannesburg: Jonathan Ball Publishers, colour illustration on p.132. Werth, Dr. A.J. and Engel, Prof E.P. ed. (1980). Edoardo Villa Sculpture. Johannesburg: United Book Distributors, colour illustration plate 47
Sold for R1,125,432
Estimated at R600,000 - R900,000
painted steel on a steel base,
Artwork date: 1965
Signature details: signed and dated
Exhibited: Nirox Sculpture Park, Kromdraai, Edoardo Villa Changing Worlds, 2007.
Literature: Nel, K. (2006). Villa at 90. Johannesburg: Jonathan Ball Publishers, colour illustration on p.132. Werth, Dr. A.J. and Engel, Prof E.P. ed. (1980). Edoardo Villa Sculpture. Johannesburg: United Book Distributors, colour illustration plate 47
(1)
145 x 50 x 39cm; 178.5 x 50 x 39.5 cm including base
Dr. and Mrs. Vogelnest
Notes:
In the late fifties, Edoardo Villa pioneered the use of steel as a sculptural medium in South Africa. Initially using steel rods and pointed strips from scrapyards, he created many works of closely interwoven elements culminating in the monumental Africa which was to find its home at the then ISCOR headquarters. During the sixties he found more industrial utility objects with which he constructed symbols of increasingly pervasive industrialisation. These sculptures nevertheless attested to his humanist background of training in Italy, as he preferably built them around a vertical core which refers to the standing human figure.
Villa had an exceptional ability to transform his material into rich compositions, with references to both the strong geometry of classical sculpture, and the fecund earthy shapes of African sculpture. He had absorbed and internalised the carvings seen in the extensive collections of his friends Vittorino Meneghelli and Egon Guenther. Curved strips and mechanical grids and even tools were incorporated into powerful images, ranging from the Seated African of 1962 and the African Virgin and Masai Girl of 1963 to the Homage to Maillol of 1965.
This elaborate figure is both armour and skeleton, with the ribbed bars of the neck calling to mind vertebrae, while horizontal pipes read as forceful ribs, encapsulating organic cones as belly and rearward extending buttocks. These latter elements in particular could be subtle references to the fullness of female figures produced by French modernist sculptor, Aristide Maillol. The small size of the discs terminating as the head are reminders of the Mapogga women depicted by Alexis Preller. These were a far cry from the Minimalist sculptures being constructed at the time in Europe and the USA, attesting to Villa's awareness of his surroundings and the visual inputs he was exposed to by living in Johannesburg.
Amalie von Maltitz
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Auction: Historic, Modern & Contemporary Art, 31st Oct, 2016
The line-up for our inaugural sale included an extraordinary selection of art. Works ranged from JH Pierneef’s breathtaking Karoo near Hofmeyer, painted in 1930, to Dan Halter’s 2006, ultraviolet light, Pefection.
Sculptures varied from Edoardo Villa’s acknowledgment of French artist, Aristide Maillol to Wim Botha’s heads that draw on classical and contemporary sources and Ed Young’s cheeky nude self-portrait. Also included were impressive photographs by award-winners, David Goldblatt and Pieter Hugo.
The auction set an impressive standard, with an outstanding sell-through rate of over 75% across 121 lots. The top lot of the sale was Alexis Preller’s exceptional Profile Figures (Mirrored Image), selling for over R7-million. Record sales were achieved for Villa, Goldblatt, and Hugo, amongst others.
Viewing
Friday 28 October 2016 | 10 am – 5 pm
Saturday 28 October 2016 | 10 am – 5 pm
Sunday 28 October 2016 | 10 am – 4 pm
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