Notes

From an edition of 6 plus 1 artist's proof.

The 1950s was a key decade for Edoardo Villa, as this began his turn towards a conceptual sense of form and the exploration of abstraction. In this new light, the linear motifs, rhythmical qualities and negative space of the simplified forms portray inner personality and emotion. The present lot, created in 1953 is characteristic of this period, the sturdy, robust legs planted apart, provide support to the fluid movement of the upper skeletal form. Depicting complex relationships between linear motifs and sculptural form became a central theme throughout his oeuvre. The form of this work is reminiscent of both Italian Futurist painter and sculptor Umberto Boccioni’s Unique Forms of Continuity in Space (1913) and the French artist Marcel Duchamp’s Nude Descending a Staircase (1912), echoing their suggestions of movement in space and time.

Literature

Chris de Klerk and Gerard de Kamper (2012) Villa in Bronze: A Comprehensive Reference to the Castings of Edoardo Villa, Pretoria: University of Pretoria Museum, number 6 from the edition illustrated in colour on page 34.