Edoardo Villa, (South African, 1915-2011)

Two standing figures 34 x 5cm x 3.5cm (13 3/8 x 1 15/16 x 1 3/8in); 30.5 x 14.5 x 8cm (12 x 5 11/16 x 3 1/8in).

Two standing figures
one stamped 'VILLA' (to the foot); the other stamped 'E.VILLA. 1976. 2/6' (to the foot)
bronze
34 x 5cm x 3.5cm (13 3/8 x 1 15/16 x 1 3/8in); 30.5 x 14.5 x 8cm (12 x 5 11/16 x 3 1/8in).
(2)

Provenance
Purchased directly from the artist in Johannesburg in 1976.
A private collection, London.

In the late 1970s, Edoardo Villa produced a series of small standing figures in bronze. The sculpture with the green patination is identical in form to a pair that were gifted to the University of Pretoria in 1978 (illustrated p.69 of de Klerk & de Kamper, Villa in Bronze, Pretoria, 2012).

The second sculpture with the brown patina is an earlier version of a group Villa cast in 1978 at the Irene Metal Industries Sculpture Studio in Krugersdorp.

Villa typically modelled his figures first in clay or plaster of Paris before casting them in bronze. This medium allowed the artist to communicate a wider range of emotions. These figures have a flowing, sinuous quality that defies the properties traditionally associated with metalwork.

Bibliography
C. de Klerk & G. de Kamper, Villa in Bronze, Pretoria, 2012), p.1-2.