Edoardo Villa (South Africa 1915-2011)
Thrust II

steel

Artwork date: 1984/6
Literature: Nel, K. (2005). 'Villa at 90', Cape Town: Jonathan Ball Publishers, illustrated on p.88-89.
Exchange Rates*: USD 88 212 – 113 416
GBP 65 168 – 83 787
EURO 74 696 – 96 038

(1)

237 x 440 x 101 cm including base

Provenance:

Private collection, Cape Town.

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

This commanding steel sculpture is from the Thrust series, also known as War Machines, developed in the mid-1980s.[1] Here, the upright “Prisoners” of an earlier series tilt into diagonal, forceful compositions dominated by industrial pipes and planar steel sheets. The residual human presence of earlier works gives way to structures that evoke tanks, cannons and rocket launchers. Villa’s intention was not illustrative but cautionary: these works alert the viewer to the disturbing sophistication of modern weaponry and the misplaced investment in its creation.

In Thrust II, flat steel sheets are transfixed and simultaneously suspended by pairs of straight pipes, creating a striking visual equivalent of expansion and detonation. The sculpture reads as both propulsion and aftermath; a structure caught mid-explosion, or the debris left in its wake. The composition holds in a tense equilibrium, characteristically resisting a single fixed orientation; front, back, up and down dissolve, the work resting convincingly on multiple axes.

Works of this magnitude seldom appear at auction. They are more often encountered in the public realm, where Villa’s sculptures have long defined civic and institutional landscapes, from the grounds of the University of Pretoria to major corporate and museum collections. To encounter such a substantial example on the market is rare.

^{[1] Nel, K. (2005). Villa at 90, Cape Town: Jonathan Ball Publishers, illustrated on p. 88.}

NOTE:

This lot is currently on display in Franschhoek, Western Cape. Please contact Aspire Art to arrange to view.

Successful bidders will need to arrange collection from Franschhoek. Aspire Art will, however, be available to assist in any arrangements.

COLLECTIONS:

The artist is represented in numerous local and international collections, notably the Rupert Museum, Stellenbosch; Edoardo Villa Museum, Pretoria; Rand Merchant Bank, Johannesburg; Norval Foundation, Cape Town; Javett Art Centre, Pretoria; Iziko South African National Gallery; Sanlam Art Collection, Johannesburg; Johannesburg Art Gallery; University of Cape Town; Durban Art Gallery; The South African Reserve Bank, Johannesburg; University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg; Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA), Cape Town and the Standard Bank Gallery, Johannesburg.