Works of Art Collection

Untitled

Sculpture

Bronze

72 x 55 x 87

After studying in Milan and Rome, Eduardo Villa moved to South Africa, where, during the 1960’s he, along with Cecil Skotnes and Guiseppi Cattaneo, founded the Amadlozi Group. This group of artists sought to fuse the European traditions in which they were schooled with the traditions of African art they found around them. Villa was also an early mentor to Sydney Khumalo whose work is also represented in this collection. Italian born Eduardo Villa has proved himself as one of South Africa’s most revered artists. After studying sculpture in Milan in the 1940’s, Villa was conscripted into the Italian army and subsequently found himself in a South African prison camp in 1942. Post WW2 (and his release), he decided to stay in the country and pursue his artistic career. Villa’s preferred sculptural medium is steel, one which he has consistently used with a masterful touch. Themes that run through his work, even in the more abstract pieces, include human concerns such as structure, posture, attitudes, relationships and circumstances. In this piece Villa breaks away from the use of steel and ventures into the realm of bronze. He has also been known to experiment with the found shapes of polystyrene packaging.
Villa, a five time representative of South Africa at the Venice Biennale, was honoured in 1995 with the opening of the Eduardo Villa Museum in Pretoria. His work has been extensively exhibited across the continents during his remarkable career

Loan

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