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How to cite this thesis

Surname, Initial(s). (2012) Title of the thesis or dissertation. PhD. (Chemistry)/ M.Sc. (Physics)/ M.A. (Philosophy)/M.Com. (Finance) etc. [Unpublished]: University of Johannesburg. Retrieved from: https://ujdigispace.uj.ac.za (Accessed: Date). DEVELOPMENT OF FORMAND MEANING

IN THE SCULPTURE OF

EDOARDO VILLA

by

Elizabeth Amalia von Maltitz

Thesis submitted for the degree Master of ArtsIn History of Art in the Faculty of Arts Rand Afrikaans University, November 1982

II III IIII "II 3 00561 166lf RAU BIB

Study leader: Professor E.P. Engel

Translation completed by the author, December 1985

Chapter Four added in 1988 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Firstly I would like to thank the Maestro, Mr Edoardo Villa who always put any information needed at my disposal, and his wife who kindly supplied us with many a meal over the years.

Further thanks go to the study leader Professor Peter Engel for his continued motivation to renewed observation and thought; colleagues and co-workers at the Rand Afrikaans University for their co-operation and assistance, and last but not least to family and friends for their patience and sympathy during the compilation of this study.

November 1982

The Research Section of the Rand Afrikaans University has made available some funds to assist in the pUblishing of the thesis. It is, however, not to be held responsible for any of the views expressed in the study.

All photographers whose prints, and owners whose sculptures have been reproduced, are thanked for their contribution to this non­ profit educational pUblication. The copyright thus remains vested in the photographers and owners, and any visual material may not be further reproduced.

November 1988

2 ABBREVIATIONS

PAG Pretoria Art Gallery JAG Johannesburg Art Gallery SANG South African National Art Gallery RAU Rand Afrikaans University EV-Sc Engel, E.P. (ed) : Edoardo Villa - Sculpture, United Book Distributors, Johannesburg, 1980 exhib. cat. exhibition catalogue inv. no. inventory number colI. collection

3 CONTENTS PAGE

Preface to the publication of the thesis ••••..•.••••••.••... 6

Introduction

Definitions ;...... 7

Analysis of literature •••.••.•••••••••••••••.••.••••••••.•.. 9

CHAPl'ER 1

Italy; early work in South Africa; conventional significance, and archetypes c. 1935 - 1957 .•••••••••••.•.••.••••...•••..• 17

Group I Italy; academic means and themes, c. 1935 - 1940 ..••.••..•.• 17

Group II Prisoner-of-war; contemporary sentiment. 1943 - 1947 ..•.•..• 22

Group III Stylisation; the theme of woman. 1947 - 1949 ...•..•••••.••.• 26

Group IV Torso, abstraction; form as container of meaning. 1950 - 1957 .••.•.•.••.•..••.••••.••.•••••.••.•.•••.•.•.....• 32

Group V From modelling to metal; non-figurative. 1952 - 1957 •.•..... 35

CHAPTER 2

Steel the medium; vertical composLt.Lcns r expression of the mythical and ontological. 1957 - 1970 •••..•••.•.••..••.•• 43

Group VI Strips of steel; non-figurative compositions. 1957 - 1961 '" 43

Group VII Mechanical elements; icons of Africa. 1961 - 1967 ...•...... • 50

Group VIII Massive forms, bronze as well as steel; joie de vivre. 1967 - 1970 .•.....•..•....•...•.•.•.•...... •..•...... 63

4 CONTENTS PAGE CHAPTER 3 Group IX Sheets and blades; group sculptures. 1971 - 1975 72 Group X Pipes and colour; larger groups. 1975 - 1977 •••••••••••••••• 79 Group XI Cuts, colour of rust; complex groupings. 1977 - 1979 .•••••.• 85

CHAPTER .. Group XII Transition - non-figurative structures. 1980 91 Group XIII Mainly the pipe, figurative. 1981 - 1982 ••••••••••••..••.••• 92 Group XIV The Box - closed and opening; geometric-organic dialogue. 1982 - 1986 •.••••••••...••.••••••••..••.••••..••••.••..••••• 94 Group XV Single organic zoomorphic and anthropomorphic beings. 1986 -1988 ••••••••••.•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 98

CONCLUSION •••••••••.•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••.•••• 101

List of reproductions, with documentation ••..•...•.•.•••.•.• 103 Bibliography •...•...••...... •••...... •.•..••.•.••....•.• III

Additional reproductions for comparison .••••....•....••.••.• 118

5 PREFACE TO THE PUBLICATION OF THE THESIS

It was decided to translate this thesis into English 'from the original Afrikaans in which it was written, so as to reach a wider pUblic interested in the sculpture of Edoardo Villa. It was also deemed necessary that the thesis should be pUblished, as there is a need for reference material on Villa's work, particular sir.ce he was put on the list of artists to be studied in schools.

Another factor in favour of pUblishing was the lack of any other comprehensive review of his oeuvre, although some instructive introductions about various aspects of his work have been written by various authors (the most recent being those by Prof. Alan Crump, interview and article, exhib. cat. JAG 1987; Neels Coetzee, exhib. cat. wits University Art Galleries, 1984; Dr. Raymund van Niekerk, exhib. cat. Standard Bank Arts Festival, 1988).

The artist requested that another section be added to the thesis, as it only covered the work up to 1979, so as to bring the overview up to date. As this was done independently of the study leader, Prof E.P. Engel, who oversaw the writing of the first three chapters, he should not in any way be held responsible for Chapter four.

November 1988

6 INTRODUCTION The mature work of Edoardo Villa is characterized by a sequence of apparently very differing phases. Analysis of the visual qualities demonstrate that the formal inventions made in early works are later often freely combined to create new variations. According to the "Handboek van die Afrikaanse Taal" (1971, p. 599) develop (ontwikkel) means: gradual growth, taking on of form, evolving, come to existence, or bring to fruition. It is thus appropriate to use the term development in discussing the art of Edoardo Villa, as his formal ideas are continuously evolving and are brought to full fruition over the years. It is natural that the development of form in his oeuvre is not a process which takes place systematically or evenly along a single direction. Indeed, the rhythmical nature of Villa's development can be observed in that of other artists. Neumann describes this process in the case of Henry Moore: "the seemingly inexplicable arbitrariness with which new motifs suddenly appear; only to be set aside for a while and then later taken up one again and developed further, proves to be an inner necessity in the life of creative individuals; for the play of dialectical tensions leads to their resolution in an "irrational third", which in its turn becomes the starting point for new tensions, developments, and artistic solutions" (1959, p. 83). But form is not created as an aim in itself: Kant's words "There is no content that is not construed according to some form" (Read, 1965, p. 85) could very well read: no form can originate without containing a content. In fact the evolution of human awareness is linked to the recognition of form, and to the realisation that form can have content which has nothing to do with utility of form (Read, 1965, p. 85). Considerable research has been done on the close links between form and content in various fields, such as History of Art, Philosophy, and Psychology (Read: The Or igins of Form in Art; Langer: Feeling and Form; Jung: Psychological Types). So too, the interpretation of form and content have to take place concurrently, as Eduard Trier states: "The interpretation of meaning cannot, in any case, be divorced from the analysis of form; and by remaining close to that analysis, it will remain close to the work of art itself." (1961, p. 53). The form of the work of art is that which enables us to observe it (Gardner, 1975, p. 911). Firstly, visual observation determines the relationships of the physical characteristics of the work of art, such as line, plane, colour, texture, volume and mass. The manner in which all these properties are united, constitutes a form of determinate, recognizable character. Form is however not only a sum of qualities or visual elements, but also a synthesis of all these, a total organic (Le. cohesive) structure (cr, Gardner, 1975, p. 911)

7 Considering the close ties between form and content, it follows that any change of form will result in a concomitant 9hange or variation of content. Thus the formal analysis of the sculpture of Edoardo Villa will .render evidence of the development of content which occurs in his oeuvre.

Various terms are used to refer to significant form (i.e. form with content) which is considered to be a work of art: symbol, image, icon, sometimes even: sign or reference. All these terms have the common denominator of not only an external observable form, but having a form as physical expression of intuitive cognition (cf. Jung on "image" (1964, p , 442, par. 745)}. Read points out that awareness is expressed as an object in various ways: in early times, which he calls "man's first unreflecting unity with nature" (Read, 1964, p. 22) the image would suffice. Later, when man had become a self-conscious individual, set aside from nature, he needed symbols, both as concepts, and as objects (Read, 1964, p. 22). strictly speaking, an icon is a work of art revered for itself (cf.Gardner, 1975, p. 912) but in contemporary history of art the term is freely used as simile for "symbol". Read in fact prefers "icon", as he is of the opinion that "symbol" is ambiguous (1968, p. lOS). Whichever term is used, be it symbol or icon, it is important that they indicate significant form. Thus, form primarily has conventional content when it has a similar appearance to natural phenomena, but simultaneously carries metaphysical content. This content probably originates in a process which Read describes as follows: in the deeper layers of the unconscious there is a formative principle at work, moulding some primordial material of the psyche into icons (1964, p , 105).

In the sign, form and content are usually very simply related: a certa:in form generally has only one, defined meaning. Thus, a cross as roadsign, would indicate a road crossing. In another context, the cross would have a very different content, and in adapted form, could be accepted as a symbol. In the twentieth century, where application, and the relative position of the image is to a greater extent important than in the single, significant form, the sign is more generally found in art. This is symptomatic of a cultural phase described by van Peursen as the "functional" (1976, pp. 80-87).

A systematic, chronological record of the sculpture of Edoardo Villa is the necessary base on which the examination of the above aspects rests, so as to determine the development in his oeuvre. The author documented all available works during the preparation for the retrospective exhibition VILLA '80, during which 280 sculptures were shown. All the documentary evidence Which the artist had at the time, was examined as well. The details were inclUded in the photographic records held by the Documentation Centre of the Department of History of Art at the Rand Afrikaans University, and wera -incorporated where applicable in the commemorative publication "Edoardo Villa - Sculpture", United Book Distributors, 1980 (editor, E.P. Engel). It follows that recurring reference will be made to this publication, subsequently identified as EV-Sc. This publication contains a fairly

8 comprehensive bibliography; this study however will cOJcentrate more on references to extended articles•. Most of the abovementioned aspects of form and content have already been touched on by earlier authors writing on the sculpture of Villa; they too have identified certain phases in his development. In these studies attention is focussed on the description and analysis of form, and they point out some changes. Furthermore, the cyclic, or rhythmic nature of these changes are mentioned.

CYCLIC DEVELOPMENT The cyclic development of Edoardo Villa's work is seen by Prof. Karin Skawran as a recurring shift between representative and conceptual form (Afrox, 1976, opp. plate 4, and EV-Sc p. 24). Both Skawran and Vittorino Meneghelli suggest that Villa's development took place largely on the formal level, and, more specifically, could be deducted from the given material (EV-Sc, pp. 26, 15). Esme Berman sees the cyclic rhythm as the primary factor in the development of Villa's formal language, e.g. where she draws attention to the variation of organic and mechanical formal qualities (exhib. cat., 1970, PAM, JAG). Berman, notes, however, that the development not only encompasses form, but simUltaneously affects the variation in emphasis of content and form, or meaning and form (EV-Sc, p. 17). Dr. Albert Werth, too, sees the changes in Villa's sculpture primarily in terms of formal variations; furthermore, he does indicate how Villa tends to be more universal in his themes (EV-Sc, p. 11). Watter points out that Villa carries out a compositional theme in a series of variations (Watter, 1969, p. 25). In her formal analysis she continually refers to similarities to early works, or to the continued expansion of earlier formal ideas, without however paying attention to the course of the development as such (Watter, 1966, pp. 26, 28). Apparently none of the writers attach any significance worth mentioning to the cyclic nature of Villa's development. In the following analysis, which is intended to be more extensive, the cyclic nature of his development emerges even more clearly, and is consequently examined more closely.

COMPOSITION When formal analyses of Edoardo Villa's sculpture are done, comment is often passed on the type of composition, i.e. on the form as total structure. The predominant visual characteristic of most of Villa's work is the vertical compositional framework. Nevertheless this characteristic is not specifically mentioned, although reference is made to the concomitant formal arrangement such as symmetry and frontality. In particular Gerhard Hagg emphasizes these qualities as being the most important factors in Villa's successful works (Hagg, 1980, p. 11). The vertical structure is closely linked to Villa's use of the structure of the human body as compositional framework. Attention

9 is often focussed on the latter aspect. Watter very clearly states that this structure "has provided the complete and satisfying reference through which Villa could resolve the problem of internal coherence of his structures" (EV-Sc, p. 21), in contrast to most of the other writers who see the human figure in villa's oeuvre primarily in thematic context, as will be seen on examination.

VISUAL QUALITIES In the formal approach taken by most writers on the sculpture of Edoardo Villa, a great deal of attention is focussed on the visual qualities of form, line, plane, texture, colour, volume, and mass. They point out contrasts between pointed and solid forms, or the stylisation of form, as well as Villa's derivation of forms from the vegetation of Africa, and from .Negro sculpture, especially that of Central Africa (EV-Sc, Werth, pp. 11, 12, Berman, p. 19, Skawran pp , 24, 25). Several authors focus attention on his growing concentration on more geometric form, e.g. Watter describes the process: " ... he reduced and geometricized his compositions, retracting the forms with an inward movement" (EV­ Sc, p. 21). Skawran does not describe the forms as geometric, but her analysis indicates that Villa's formal language tends in this' direction :"... they read as clearly articulated volumes and visually intelligible structures •.• " and "he strives for the absolute value of pure form." (EV-Sc, pp. 27, 28). Changes in texture are particularly noticeable, and are mentioned, linked to that is colour, which is in a sense an integral aspect of the texture of a sculpture. Texture is seldom mentioned in connection with Villa's earlier work, but after 1970 the use of bright colour and shiny surfaces increase markedly, later followed by the contrast of rusting, rough steel plates,. focussing attention on the importance of texture (EV-Sc: Werth, p. 13, Meneghelli, p. 15, Berman, p. 20, Watter, p. 22). According to Watter colour can negate the mass of metal, or intensify it - it can even "maintain the continuity of an even surface" (Watter, 1967, unnumbered sixth p.).

TECHNIQUE The manner in which Villa handles all these formal aspects naturally determine the character or style of the sculpture. Villa's "exact craftsmanship" is often mentioned in articles on his work, without, however, attempts being made to find possibly deep-seated reasons for this particularly meticulous handling of material. Watter comments on the assemblage sculptures of the sixties: "His technical mastery has seldom been as well displayed as in these meticulously tooled creations." (Watter, 1966, p. 27) or, on the later works: "Villa has always retained the careful, workmanlike industrial finish." (EV-Sc, p. 22). Berman identifies Villa's handling of matter as one of the most recognizable characteristics of his work. "Thus, the consistent immaculateness of form, the oosessional perfectionism of technique and the finesse of his finish are among the most distinctive features of his sculpture." (EV-Sc, pp. 17-18).

10 SIZE As sculpture is generally speaking a three-dimensional, physical object, physical size, as much as being a formal visual quality, can have expressive value, and can thus become significant. watter pointed out the effect of size as early as 1966, when she described "African Guardian" : "It represents the enclosed, static quality of the new Heads, but the scale of the work trebles the impact." (Watter, EV-Sc, p , 32). According to Meneghelli a specific size is inherent in every sculptural image: ". .. you would complete the cycle with one or two works, in what you consider the proper size. A size that would offer the onlooker the chance of full assimilation." (EV-Sc, p. 15). He elaborates on this: "This is the emotion of the larger construction; it can be lived ir., exchanging a dialogue with the understanding onlooker which is enriching and inspiring." (EV-Sc, p. 16) It is therefore surprizing that more attention is not paid to the expressive possibilities of size, as Edoardo Villa is one of the few local sculptors who until recently (i.e. in 1979) worked on a large scale.

MATERIAL By their very nature visual qualities, such as the abovementioned, are closely linked with the material of which the sculpture has been made. The effect which changes of material had on the formal language of Edoardo Villa is repeatedly mentioned. For example, Werth points out that steel was a help in the sculptor's striving towards simplification and stylization, but does not elaborate on the process (EV-Sc, p. 12). Berman maintains that a certain lir.k exists between Villa's technique and his artistic perception: " •.• he does not excavate, he builds - either in the malleable material of clay, or in the more resilient resource of steel. And this choice of procedures is a metaphorical reflection of the nature of his artistic perception. For Villa does not probe the human psyche: he is not concerned with the portrayal of inner personality or of emotion." (Ev-Sc, p. 17). Only one writer, Lola Watter, points out how Villa prefers to control the whole creativ~ process of his steel sculptures, contrary to contemporary tendencies (EV-Sc, p. 22). Skawran is of the opinion that the use of metal endows Villa's sculptures with a timeless and permanent quality (EV-Sc, p. 22). She also points out that his bronze sculptures of the late sixties show clearly sensual qualities (EV­ Sc, p. 26). According to her, the possibilities of cast and wrought iron suggested new sculptural dimensions, which she identified specifically as abstraction and stylisation (EV-Sc, p. 26). Watter is apparently the author who clearly stated that sculptural discoveries made in one medium, are carried over by Villa as enrichment to another {Watter, Ons Kuns III, p. 62}. Werth on the other hand, seems to observe a constant relationship between form and content, regardless of changes in medium (EV-Sc, p. 12).

11 CONTENT As regards the content of Edoardo Villa's sculpture, the works are variously referred to as symbols or icons. Occasionally reference is made to his images, but the works are never seen as signs. Reference is seldom made to the content of the work of art within the context of the "Zeitgeist"; Watter's contribution to the 1980 commemorative publication could be seen primarily as a stylistic comparison to contemporary works (EV-Sc, pp. 21-23).

All the writers on Villa's ~ork agree that Edoardo Villa's forms mostly have the conventional content of the human figure. This reappears as Villa's most important image after short periods of non-figurative compositions (early sixties, early seventies) (Watter, 1966, p. 26). Meneghelli is the exception, making no reference to the conventional content, except where he refers to the sculptures as Villa's "staunch sentinels" (EV-Sc, p. 14). After training in Italy, Villa started sculptural work in South Africa by creating naturalistic representations of the human being, during his time as prisoner-of-war (EV-Sc, Berman, p. 18). Subsequently the human being appears in many guises in the oeuvre of Edoardo Villa. Werth and Berman (EV-Sc, p. 11, 20) identify many of these: "die mens, heroies, masj ienagtig, sensueel, speels, uitdagend, teer - die natuurgebonde mens, die primitiewe mens, die mens in die groot stad, die tegnologie en die masjien", and "Universal man - man the warrior, man the scientist, man the flesh and man the symbol, man the demigod and man the droll, man passionate and tender ... " Only Berman indicates that the human being in the physical, external sense, is the main issue: It is the physical existence - the gestures, attitudes, roles and relationships of human beings, with each other and with the world around them - that absorbs him (EV-Sc, p. 17). Reference is seldom made to the representation of the female figure. Skawran does mention ita few times (EV-Sc, pp. 26, 27). She postulates the artist's suggestion of the human figure, transposed, however, to the rObot, the dehumanized symbol (EV-Sc, p. 26). Landscape and vegetation play a minor role in Villa's formal language. When occasional formal elements derived from natural phenomena do occur, they are incorporated into the basically human structure of his sculptures. A possible derivation from the thorny forms of South African vegetation is often noted in referring to Villa's early works in steel (EV-Sc, p. 12; Watter, 1966, second and fourth page of text). Berman links awareness of the nature of Africa as regards vegetation, to the ritual accoutrement of tribal members (EV-Sc, p. 19). Watter, on the other hand, tries to link this awareness to the sharp forms of horns, factory chimneys, and the assegai. (Ons Kuns III, p. 61) In the literature-on the sculpture of Edoardo Villa attention is often paid to the form as symbol. It follows that his works could be identified as symbols of La. the human, of Africa, or of technology, depending on which conventional content is recognized

12 in his forms. Skawran points out that Villa's creations develop from "iconic images" to "abstract symbols" (EV-Sc, p. 24). According to Berman he is constantly expressing human existence by the preservation of human themes, whether it be by images, or by symbols (EV-Sc, p. 18). Writers make no effort to indicate the possible content of the symbol when Villa creates completely abstract structures; in such cases they refer solely to formal aspects. Such sculptures can however have equal significance, even when the content is no longer expressed through conventionally recognizable forms.

AFRICA AS THEME Most of the writing on Edoardo Villa's oeuvre particularly during the mid-sixties, contains observations on Africa as theme. Some see the myths and symbols of Africa serving as inspiration (Werth, EV-Sc, p. 11), while other are of the opinion that Villa derived the virility, strength, and tension in his work from the sculpture of West-Africa (Werth, EV-Sc, p. 12). Berman is sure that the art of African tribes must have served as inspiration (PAG, exhib. cat. 1970). She also points out an important development, however, from "formal improvisation in the appearance of the human figure, to symbolic interpretation of the character of the human presence" (EV-Sc, p , 19). Skawran says that Villa creates a "totemic and mystical" atmosphere, hypothetically similar to that in African art (EV-Sc, p. 26). Watter feels that the Whole content is derived from Africa (Watter, 1067, second p.). Skawran defines the situation more clearly, where she points out Villa's receptivity to, and adoption of the formal language of African sculpture "without any deeper concern about their anthropological and cosmological feeling." EV-Sc, p. 25). However, both Skawran and Watter draw the attention of readers to the fact that Villa definitely expresses awareness of his surroundings on a deeper level: "he finally orientated his ideas along figurative-symbolic ways - out of his profound empathetic involvement with the South African environment". (Watter, 1966, p. 25).

TECHNOLOGY

As a result of Edoardo Villa I s use of industrial offcuts and waste (screws, bolts, gears, levers, strips) in some of his works, those are often considered to be expressions of modern technology and .science in everyday life (Werth, EV-Sc, p. 13). Some of these are referred to as icons of an industrial age (Watter, 1966, p. 25). According to analysis by Berman, homage is thus paid to the creative co-operation of man and his inventions, his sinew and mUscle being thus replaced by engineering appliances. However, many of these same sculptures are seen as expressions of the African theme. Watter on the other hand, considers them to be ~ather images of Medieval concepts, but does not elaborate on this ~nterpretation.

13 THE GROUP AS THEME

As Villa's forms, particularly in the seventies, have less structurally figurative connotations, a new theme emerges in his oeuvre, i.e. the group. Skawran refers to a very early work, "Africa", 1960, as an archetypal image of the family. Berman identifies the new theme of the group, in which relationships between people are expressed (EV-Sc, p. 19), but points out the inherent paradox in villa's use of groups: on the one hand, he works with the concept of the sculpture as object, on the other, "he still makes reference to contact outside the SCUlptural object." (EV-Sc, p. 22). Skawran does not view this as a paradox, rather as an additional effect. "Grouped together, these structures generate emotive equivalents of figures in conversation or argument."

THE EROTIC

Skawran is the only writer to point out the erotic aspect in the SCUlpture of Edoardo Villa. She comments, for example, that he "like the African tribe artist, frequently emphasized those parts of the body which have greatest erotic emotional significance, such as breast, the thighs and the buttocks." She adds that in the pipe figures under discussion, "the erotic element has been restrained in favour of a more cerebral image" (EV-Sc, p. 27). It would seem, therefore, that the erotic element in itself is not particularly meaningful in the sculpture of Edoardo Villa although suggestions of it do occur.

ABSTRACTION

Only very brief references are made to the phase in which Villa created abstract sculpture. One of these periods spanned the years 1956 to 1961, when he "consciously gave form to abstract concepts", according to Berman; the other was much shorter, from 1972 to 1973, (EV-Sc, p. 18). Berman gives no indication, however, what the above mentioned concepts could encompass. Fassler, too, points out Villa's tendency to abstract form in his early work such as "Rhythmic Group" (Fassler, 1961, p. 248) and the series "Four Seasons" of 1961. Watter says "he has objectified his feelings in abstract symboliC" fo'rm." (Watter, 1966, p , 25). She comments on the earliest abstract work, the egg-shaped "Mother and child" and states that his constructions of steel rods in 1956 were concerned with "the problem of balance and tension by enclosing space - his predominant SCUlptural pre-occupation at that time" (Watter, 1967, third p. of text).

She writes about Edoardo villa's plane sculptures of the early seventies: "In these the emphasis is placed on the spatial interaction" (EV-Sc, p. 27), but she too, as the above mentioned authors, does not attach more than formal significance to these works.

"ZEITGEIST"

Much attention has been paid to the significance of Edoardo

14 Villa's sculpture as being symbols or icons. There have been few attempts, however, at establishing the significance of his oeuvre within the contemporary context. Watterindeed compares Villa's work stylistically, and as regards method and theme, with that of other twentieth-century sculptors (EV-Sc, pp. 21-23). In conclusion she briefly indicates Villa's reaction to his surroundings when referring to his work during 1978, with renewed figurative allusions. Watter concludes that Villa feels that "iconic images have cultural consequences" in spite of the industrial society in South Africa (EV-Sc, p. 23). Werth sees a definite element of harshness, of emotional feeling, even perhaps of torture, which the artist recognizes as directly emergent from his reaction to the world atmosphere today, in the sculpture with pointed forms and rusted surfaces (EV-Sc, p. 13), these being the most recently created works at the time of writing the articles for the commemorative 1980 publication.

Berman is of the opinion that Villa does not feel a stranger in his time, but indeed identifies with it, and in fact admires the achievements of the natural sciences and of technology (Artlook, 1970, p , 26).

It can be seen from the above summary of opions from writings on Edoardo Villa that most of the important aspects which can be derived form the analysis of form and interpretation of content, have been identified. What is lacking to date, is the systematic analysis of Villa's whole oeuvre, which would clarify the evolution of form and content in all its subtle shadings and shifts of emphasis.

Without claiming to be an absolute and final interpretation, this study is an attempt at such a systematic formal analysis and the concomitant establishing of relationships. "The meaning of human expression will always elude scientific explanation ... where we understand, we understand directly", whereby G.:>mbrich primarily refers to the symbolic significance of the work of art, not precluding the value of formal and conceptual analysis (Gombrich, 1963, p. 329).

For the purpose of this study, a large number of the sculptures which constitute Villa's enormous output, has been divided in eleven groups, (to which another four were added in the additional Chapter 4) based on the most typical formal qualities of each phase. All available material was collated and inspected. After the various formal analyses, a few examples emerged as prototypes for each group, and these were included as illustrations. The characteristics examined in these examples, can be taken as generally applicable to the sculptures of the group within which they were created. These illustrations are indicated by the abbreviation (ill. 15) and the available documentation is listed after the Conclusion. Where sculptures by other artist were discussed in comparison, reproductions have been supplied as far as possible where these are not well-known or not easily found in general sources. These have been placed at the end of the text, being referred to as follows: (fig. 16). A list, with the relevant documentation follows the reproductions.

15 The dates used to define periods, or groups of work, should be seen purely as salient points, as each phase did not evolve within clearly defined boundaries, but is rather interlinked to the others by transitional works. Often a large commission is completed two years after its maquette was created. This process in turn affects the sculptures of a later period. An example is the renewed use of pipes, the predominant form for the llIid­ seventies, for the creation of the maquette and subsequent commission of "The Knot" in Cape Town, in 1980. The preoccupation with more open compositions, and the return of the pipe, led to the fluid compositions of the early eighties. ThUS, developments from stylisation to abstraction or non­ figurative construction, or from construction to abstraction, do not necessarily follow chronologically on one another, but in periodic exchange, as shall be seen ~lso in the formal analysis.

16 CHAPTER 1

The first chapter of this study encompasses Edoardo Villa's formative years in Italy, and the early work done in his new home in South Africa. Having changed to other surroundings very different to that of pre-war Fascist Italy, Villa experimented for some time with different possibilities in style. The development of his own formal language was facilitated by adopting a new technique, that of welding. This resulted in a change of levels of content as well: the balance between form and content being found along ways differing from those he had learnt during his classical training in Italy.

Group I: c.1933 - 1940

Edoardo Villa was born in the north Italian city of Bergamo. Second to Milan, it was at the time the biggest city in Lombardy, with the typical structure of a city built around a core on a defensible hill, on the outskirts of which the more modern suburbs have spread (Enciclopedia Italiana, 1949). Edoardo's father, a trader, was surprised that one of his children should be so intensely interested in art. Edoardo himself relates that it was his mother, more than anyone else, who encouraged him to follow his ideal of becoming a sculptor. With this in mind, he attended the Scuola d'Arte Andrea Fantoni (Construction, 1972, p. 45) where he was prepared for later studies at the Bergamo Academy. His three teachers, Minotti, Barbieri, and Lodi, were lesser known artists, to whom no references even in Italian encyclopedias have been found. Villa himself says that Minotti was born in Bergamo, and completed various commissions for sculpture in the town; that Barbieri was a painter, and that Lodi had come from the not too distant Milan, where he had executed various public commissions.

Edoardo Villa's talent as a sculptor must have been evident in his home town at a very early stage, becau~e he was already awarded commissions before the age of twenty years. These early works, as far as they are known, are classed as Group I, in the period c. 1935 - 1940.

One of the commissions which Villa was awarded, was from the Tacchini-Gibelli family, for whom he was to decorate the family vault with a bas-relief (ill. 1). The other was given by the Fascist party in Bergamo, who commissioned him to fill three of the niches on their building with images of famous citizens from Bergamo or its environs (from personal conversations, 1982).

We can observe the effects of Villa's training in these early works and gain an impression of the sculpture being done in Italy during the early thirties. The same kind of stylisation was prevalent with Villa, as with other artists who did not join in the developments in early 20th century sculpture, i.e. a patterned simplification of natural form, an intellectual generalization of, and emphasis on, regularity in form. Examples showing these characteristics are Eugenio Barroni's sculptural group "Monumento al Fante" (particolare nel gruppo di Vittoria) where gesture played an important role in the expression of sentiment in the

17 stylized figures (exhibition catalogue, 18th Venice Biennale, reproduction 27) • Especially noticeable 1.S the extreme stylisation, coupled with emphasis on gesture found in the work of the Austrian-born A. Wildt, known as an Italian sculptor, e.g. in his idealized "Portrait of Cesare Battisti" (Springer & Ricci, 1943, fig. 690, p. 624) (fig. 1). Large volumes which are used in striving towards monumentality, are seen in the works of sculptors following the Roman style, e.g. Romano Romanelli, (18th Venice Biennale, fig. 26) or based on the Renaissance, as does A. Mariani' (Springer & Ricci, 1943, p. 632, fig. 702).

Comparison with contemporary Western sculptors shows that stylisation occurs elsewhere, and that this is not characteristic only of Italian sculpture. It is especially typical of English sculptor Eric Gill (18th Venice Biennale, fig. 140, "Eva") and of the Spanish artist Victorio Macho (18th Venice Biennale, fig. 122), to mention but a.few.

similarly, stylisation occurs amongst artists in Villa's future home, South Africa. An example is the "Bartholomeus Dias" by Coert Steynberg for South Africa House in London, showing a full figure in a niche (Bosman, 1938, fig. LXXX) (fig. 2). Stylisation has been applied consistently on all the varied objects, be they dress, features, water, ship, and baae , Everything has been construed in terms of large volumes and massiveness, to typify the relief as a monument. Figures are stylized to massive volumes also in the woodcarving of Moses Kottler during the thirties and early forties, e.g. in "MoeC:er en kind" and "Staande vrouefiguur" (exhibition catalogue 1974, cat. nos. 43, 37) (fig. 3).

As far as Europe is concerned, stylisation of form occurred in Nazi Germany. Especially during the thirties, emphasis on gesture with the aim to heighten expression in representations of heroic types was noticeable. Typical examples were works by Georg Kolbe, "Grosse WAchter" (Pinder, 1937, figs. 74, 75) (fig. 4) and Fritz Klimsch "Der Fuhrer" (Klimsch, 1938, fig. 84). ;: In spite of similarities as regards stylisation, exaggerated gesture to intensify expressiveness is not to be seen in Villa's early works in Bergamo. There were indeed other striking qualities which later where to become characteristic of his sculpture as a whole. These are the slightly heavy, full volumes, and the precise finish. with only two examples to hand, it might be too much ventured to identify man as the theme; indeed it is confirmed in his later work that man would be the most important theme as well as compositional structure in Villa's oeuvre. As these traits can already be identified in this early work done in the Fascist context, but in the classical Humanist tradition, they can be considered as the Italian origins of this art.

Examining the bas-relief on the Tacchini-Gibelli vault, it can be seen that stylisation was the de~ermining formal principle in all elements of the three kneeling angels in 3/4 view, whether it be features, hands, dress or wings. Variation is achieved by small differences in the position of arms, the way in which the figures kneel, and in the drapery. Gestures are introverted. Thus Villa

18 2 expresses sorrow and grief without slipping into sentiment (ill. 1) •

The angels are allegorical figures, which Villa could easily create as generalized, stylized form. On the other hand the three figures which he created for the niches on the building for the Fascist party, were historical figures. Adhering to the Fascist ideology that art has to be first and foremost educational, and that the populace must honour its heroes so as to be encouraged to heroic deeds themselves, (cf. Mussolini's propagation of Nietzsche's "superhuman" (Hayes, 1958, p. 572) it was decided to represent six famous citizens of Bergamo in the niches of the administration building. The depiction of three of these, i.e. Donizetti, Quarenghi, and Colleoni, (ill's 2,3,4) was awarded to Villa.

Gaetano Donizetti was famous for the operas he composed, such as "Lucia di Lammermoor", not only in Italy, but in the whole of the western World. He was born in 1797 in Bergamo. In 1744 the architect Giacomo Quarenghi was born in Rota d'Imagna, in the vicinity of Bergamo. Having been architect at the imperial Russian court since 1779, he gained fame outside Italy when he was responsible for the building of the city of st. Petersburg (now: Leningrad), giving it a strongly classicistic character (Brockhaus 1972). Bartolommeo Colleoni was born in 1400 in the vicinity of Bergamo, and was a famous mercenary soldier (known as "Condottiere") during Renaissance times (Passavant, 1969, p. 62).

Portraits had already been made of all three these famous Bergamaschi, e.g. the figure seen as a reproduction in the Brockhaus Encyclopedia (1972), when Edoardo Villa was given the task of depicting them in the niches. The equestrian statue of Colleoni by Verrocchio is the best known in the history of art, and thus there is more material available for comparison in a more detailed examination of Villa's Colleoni. Also, it will be seen in the formal analysis that many of the important qualities of Villa's sculpture are already recognizable, especially in this relief. Bartholommeo Colleoni (1400 - 1475), famous mercenary of the fifteenth century in Italy, led his soldiers in various campaigns against Milan, Venice, and Florence. He was of noble birth, and financially one of the most successful military leaders (Pope­ Hennesy, 1971, p. 54). Two famous generals were honoured with equestrian statues during the Renaissance, i.e.Colleoni, and Gattamelata (Gosebruch, 1958, fig. 3). Verrocchio depicted Colleoni in a proud attitude of domination, (Passavant, 1969, fig. 65), clothed in the type of armour which was still in use in the early 15th century (McGraw

Hill, 1958, p , 746). on r t.he other hand Donatello expressed Gattamelata's authority within the limits of restricted gestures (Pope-Hennesy, 1971, fig. 29), and followed the more Roman t~adition of depicting the military leader bareheaded, as can be seen in the standing sculpture of Augustus (after 20 B.C.,

19 Poulsen, 1964, reproduction p. 30). The armour worn by Gattamelata is a combination of the type of the 15th century, with certain Roman details, such as the drapery around the hips. Edoardo villa too adopted the ...15th century armour, but without the restless detail seen on that of Verrocchio's "Colleoni". Equally Villa depicts the military leader without headdress, like the Romans and Donatello's Gattamelata.

As regards the attributes (the material object recognized as appropriate to a person or office) of a military leader, the sword and the commander's staff are the most important, in addition to the armour that is worn, and the fact that the leader is depicted on horseback especially after the Renaissance. Caesar Augustus has a fairly long staff, and carries it vertically; Gattamelata has a short, sturdy staff with which he also directs his horse. We can thus fairly assume that Colleoni too, as depicted by Villa, is holding the commander's staff in his right hand (although it seems particularly short in this case).

The depiction of the military leader as a person differs in the four examples under discussion. Caesar Augustus, in the full battle-regalia which typifies him as military leader, is depicted as a specific person with a determinate psychological make-up, by the sensitive modelling of his features (Poulsen, fig. p. 30).

Contrasting with that, the "Gattamelata" was formally idealized features, which, though typifying the physical likeness of the person and rendering his type of character to a certain degree, does not reveal the more intimate aspects of character.

On the one hand Verrocchio depicts "Colleoni" more realistically by details such as the wrinkles around his eyes and neck, (Passavant, 1969, fig. 68) yet the facial expression is linearly stylized to express the "terribilita" which was supposed to characterize the 14th century "Condottiere" (Passavant, 1969, pp. 63-64). This quality is, however, not restricted to facial expression only, as Verrocchio infuses the whole sculpture with this - the way in which the military leader stretches up from the saddle, and in which the horse flings his head (Passavant, 1969, fig. 65).

The "Colleoni" by Villa however has generalized features, with a certain anonymity which reveals neither a type of personality, nor a type of military leader. In fact, by ignoring the details of hair and beard, the face of his Colleoni strongly resembles those of the other two famous citizens he depicted on the reliefs, i.e. the architect Quarenghi and the composer Donizetti, in build and expression. Thus Villa created a generalized human figure, which is recognized rather by the attributes of armour, sword, and staff, confirmed by the name engraved below it in large classical Roman lettering, as being a specific historic figure, than by the formal handling as a whole.

As regards the technique, the relief was carved in white marble by expert craftsman according to 19th century tradition, as explained in a description of Rodin's working methods (Elsen,

20 1980, p. 23). According to this technique Villa first modelled the reliefs in clay, sUbsequently casting them in Plaster of Paris. Villa worked on refining the plaster casts, which were then mechanically transferred by the craftsmen into marble, and completed. The reliefs of the three famous "Bergamaschi" were completed by Villa in 1939, according to the local newspaper "Domenica del Giornale di Bergamo" (22 November, 1970, p. 14).

A visual analysis of the relief of the Condottiere Colleoni reveals the emphasis on the stylisation of forms. This results in line patterns and rhythms determining the composition. For example, the line which circumscribes the arms and the sharp edges of the breastplate, creates a six-cornered spiral within the half figure, which is mounted in a vertical oblong niche.

Line further accentuates the verticality of the human figure in the parallel folds of drapery, as well as in the subtle lines merging with them. The central axis of the frontally depicted figure is suggested by the grip of the sword, which is continued in the decorative vertical design on the breastplate. The rigidity to be expected from such a composition is however relieved by the slight twist of the head to the left, and the rhythmical positioning of the hands.

In Villa's depiction of Colleoni, plane has two qualities: on the one hand it is conceptual abstraction (in the depiction of breastplate and cloak), on the other it 1S realistically descriptive (in hands and face). Here an important characteristic of Villa's sculpture can already be observed: the contrast between abstraction and realism. These characteristics are not unique in his work, but exist as opposites in nearly all works of art. In Villa's work the contrast is especially noticeable in his early work, and it constitutes part of the dynamics of his formal language.

The opposites can also be expressed in other terms, e.g. as geometric, as opposed to organic, or as composition as opposed to realism. "Geometric" denotes the sharp definition of line and plane, often allied to smooth finish, this being concomitant with conceptual abstraction. It also inspires stereometric forms such as the sphere, cube and cylinder, and the composition of forms around a hypothetical horizontal or vertical axis. The counter to that is the "organic", with which is implied the biomorphic nature of forms, subtle transitions between them, varied surface textures, and the composition of forms similar to growing forms in nature. Gombrich calls these opposites "arrangement" and "lifelikeness" in his discussion of Raphael's "Madonna della Sedia" (Gombrich, 1966, p , 78). Indeed his opposites do not coincide exactly with the above mentioned concept of organic­ geometric, as he sets the given forms as opposite to composition, whereas the opposites organic-geometric denote differences in forms as well as in types of composition.

Other opposites which are referred to, are more applicable to the cr~ative process, where the artist strives from the "multiplicity of reality" towards the "simplicity of form" (Arnheim, 1954 p.

21 1113) •

In this early work of Edoardo Villa, the early depiction of Bartolommeo Colleoni, the contrast between the opposites: conceptual abstraction and realistic description, is still uneven. This is evident in the extensive differences between the forms of the face and hands (organically descriptive) as opposed to the armour (geometrically abstracted).

Tension between these opposites, however, constitutes an element of each work of art: the successful formal balance between these opposites in turn is part of the expressive meaning of the work of art. A sculpture can be expressive in various ways. From the academician's point of v~ew expression was primarily to be found in the interpretation and expression of thoughts and feelings in the face and gesture of the subject (Elsen, 1974, pp. 79, 80). Nevertheless excessive gesticulation was not to be expected in free-standing sculpture. According to Elsen, modern sculptors have Matisse to thank for the new directive, that expression is to be found in the total formal handling, and in the arrangement of the elements of the sculpture, i.e. what the sculptor, and not his subject does, is what becomes expressive.

In the case of Villa's "Colleoni" no excessive facial expression or gesticulation is depicted. Villa seems rather to strive after expressiveness in the stylisation of formal elements. Stylisation, the search for a cerebral generalization of form, indicates a search for the more universal. The more universal also has the connotation of timelessness: perhaps by this Villa sought to confirm the greatness of Colleoni for all times. This aim can be detected as well in Villa's stylisation of the forms as voluminous masses, by which he achieves a certain monumentality even within the physical limits of a relief and the visual limits of the rectangular niche.

SUMHARY

Some characteristics of Edoardo Villa's future work could already be identified in the discussion of his early works done in his home town Bergamo. The formal qualities are recognized as: a dialogue between the opposing principles geometric and organic, and the massive, almost monumental volumes. All the known works depict the human figure later to be confirmed as Villa's preferred theme, as will the frontal placing, and the torso which is found in these three reliefs of historic figures, will be seen to be typical of his depiction of the human.

In the works which Villa subsequently completed as prisoner-of­ war in South Africa, the opposites organic-geometric are found in a completely different relationship. The frontal composition of the figure, mass and monumentality are generally eliminated in favor of expressiveness which he seeks to achieve rather by gesture and in a rough, fragmented surface.

GROUP II: 1943 - 1947

22 Edoardo Villa was called up at the start of World War II, and he participated in the campaign in Egypt as member of the Italian infantry. Towards the end of 1941 he was wounded when a tank almost crushed him in the trenches, and landed up as prisoner-of­ war in an English hospital in Cairo (Fassler, 1961, p. 243). He was transferred to Zonderwater, a camp near -Pretoria, early in 1942. At the end of hostilities in 1945, villa decided to remain in South Africa. It took about two years, however, before all the prisoners-of-war had been repatriated or freed; as a result villa only started up as an independent young sculptor in his new home in 1947.

The many years of imprisonment had not been wasted for Edoardo Villa. This was due to the policy of the South African government that prisoners should be usefully occupied. Various activities such as art, crafts, carpentry, music, and acting were encouraged under the guidance of the welfare officer, Dr. Sonnabend. Thus provision was made for plentiful stocks of clay and Plaster of Paris for those interested in doing sculpture (Tra i Reticolati, undated, 1942 - 1945).

Edoardo Villa could work almost uninterruptedly in these isolated circumstances, and completed about 65 works (Fassler, 1961, p. 243). Except for a few portraits, most of these works have been lost - Plaster of Paris is a very fragile material; the sculptures were often life-size, and Villa had neither the possibilities of transporting nor of storing them. Even the photographs which Villa had been able to keep, were eventually lost. Only the small reproductions which were printed in the camp newspaper "Tra i Reticolati" are still available. From these it can be deduced that Villa apparently made portraits, single figures and group sculptures.

During the war years, Edoardo Villa adopted traditional themes: the thinker or dreamer, sorrowing mother over fallen son (Pieta­ type), resurrection, battle group,- portraits of individuals.

The thinker and the young man resting, (ill. 7,8) can be related to Rodin's "Thinker", without the same intense feeling. Villa's figures have neither the vulnerable, melancholic expression of Lehmbruck's "Young man seated" (Read, 1964, fig. 13) nor the authority emanating from Michelangelo's "Medici" (Hart, 1969, figs. 169, 171, 206).

The theme of the group in battle is a very old one, already to be found in the composition on a Roman sarcophagus for two brothers in the mid 4th century (in the Lateran museum in Rome: Baumgart, 1966, fig. 6). A similar scene is "Trajan in der Dakerschlacht" (ibid. fig. 4) of the early 2nd century, on the triumphal arch of Constantine. In both these reliefs the figures are made in bas­ relief within a clear framework, according to a principle postulated by Gombrich in his discussion of the work of Giulio Romano: "Its main rule is to maximize movement within minimal space" (Gombrich, 1966, p. 125).

Villa takes the classical composition out of the two-dimensional

23 6 frame of the relief, and places it independently in space. Perhaps he derived the pyramidal composition of this "Lotta per l'esistenza" (ill. 5) from Theodore Gericault's painting "The raft of the Medusa" 1818 - 19, revealed even in the detail of one of the figures, which is lying backwards with the arm and hand of his neighbor thrown across his chest. Gericault was depicting a specific occurrence with the view to pointing out malpractices to the pUblic; Villa however probably strove rather to depict a more generalized human situation, the battle for survival, in his group sculpture. Possibly his experiences during the war led to the choice of this theme. The group of nude figures are not however linked to any specific occurrence or period by any additions such as costume. In depicting such an universal situation Villa adopted traditional compositions and realistic figures.

Thus, too, Villa adopted the full realistic figure continuously for transmitting his theme even when the composition was not always moulded on a classical example. Thus in the mother and her fallen son, for example, Villa deviated from the Pieta­ compositions in which the body of the son rests on her knees (e.g. Michelangelo, "Pieta", Clark, 1956, fig. 185). Villa depicts the mother' as a standing figure, her arms thrown wide apart in a gesture of despair, with the son as nude figure reclining on his back ("Tra i Reticolati" undated page).

Once his talent had come to the attention of camp authorities, Villa was commissioned to do several portraits. By nature of the commission, he strove to depict the individual, as can be seen in the portraits of Dr. Junod, His Excellency J.H. Hofmeyer, and Col. Prinsloo (Fassler, 1961, p. 243). However, he also created a more "impersonal" idealized portrait of a friend of his in the camp. This portrait later became known as "il Violinista", the violinist. The sculpture serves as proof that in this portrait sculpture Villa was not in the first instance concerned with depicting a specific person (ill. 6).

It is a known fact that Villa appreciated the sculpture of Auguste Rodin. The book on Rodin in his bookcase has been so often looked through that the pages have nearly all been loosened from the binding. The quotation from a conversation with him in "de arte" (1965? p , 24) reveals that Villa's admiration was concerned primarily with the formal aspects.

Villa was impressed by the "Emotional quality in his work, which is expressed in such new, revolutionary language; ... new way of modelling, with light and shade - the way in which his technique brings to life the surface of this sculpture, .. his feeling for plastic values. He adopts the subject matter to the material he uses - yet he always remains master of it." The way of modelling with light and shade can be seen especially in Villa's work done during the period in the prisoner-of-war camp. The fragmentation of the plane by marks ~f-an energetic modelling process, probably for this very purpose, can be well observed in the detail of the preserved "il Violinista" (ill. 6) in the Berman collection. Seen without this external layer of texture it is striking that this portrait sculpture, just as the earlier "Colleoni", is based on

24 the same idealized proportions and combination of forms.

When one compares Villa's "Violinista" (ill. 6) with a portrait by Rodin, e.g. "Dalou", 1883, differences are clearly seen (Cladel, 1953, fig. 28). The lively textures of Rodin's bronze originate in the vitality which he imparted to every visible element (bone, sinew, muscle, skin) of the human anatomy. In contrast to that Villa conceived his model in terms of geometric volumes, which, he, in adapting to the medium and in striving for heightened expressiveness, sUbsequently covers with a layer of conceptually enrichened texture. ("conceptual" in this case means according to a concept, instead of being personally experienced.)

A comparison of Villa's "II pensatore" (ill. 7) with Rodin's "Le penseur" (Cladel, 1953, figs. 16, 17) is equally revealing as regards expressiveness, rendered by gesture and by the composition as a whole. Rodin creates controlled tension, not solely in the depiction of the muscular body, but more particularly in the slight twist in the position of the figure, with his right arm resting on his left knee; additionally by the apparently unstable position of the figure, caused by the feet being pUlled far in under the seat, and the torso leaning forward. In contrast to that Villa's "Pensatore" has been composed on an even geometric frame, based on the cube. Here .the opposites earlier identified can be clearly observed: i.e. the organic, seen in the realistic-sensory descriptive surface and the anatomic relationships, and the geometric manifested as compositional framework.

Use of the geometric frame as compositional structure is noticeable also in other works of the early forties. It is the case in both sculptures "Fanciullo in riposo" and "La lotta per l'esistenza" (ill's. 8, 5). In the former the limbs of the young man have been positioned to fit within the cube; in the latter the figures, in different positions, are combined to result in a pyramid or cone shape. The choice of basic geometric frames contributes to the expression of the thelo,e. The cube is a stable form, thus it does not disturb the young man's rest. In spite of the broad base of the pyramid or cone which imparts physical stability, it ends in a point at the top, thus suggesting vertical movement. Thus the striving "to reach the top" is already embodied in the composition as a whole.

In the interrupted line and organically descriptive plane of these sculptures the opposites of organic-geometric are expressed completely differently from the way they were in Villa's previous sculptures done in Italy. Where the geometric aspect was previously inherent in the stylisation of each from, the geometric aspect now appears as the framework which serves as compositional structure. Where the organic served as natural cohesion of the human body, and was expressed in the detail of various parts of the body in the sculpture of Bergamo, the organic now determined all the forms constituting the composition.

With a stronger tendency towards organic characteristics as medium of expression, less emphasis is placed on the monumental as a formal quality. Nevertheless physical size can create an

25 impression of monumentality, as appears to be the case in' "11 Pensatore" (ill. 7) which was apparently life-size, and depicted a massively muscular nude. ("Tra i Reticolati" - shows Villa next to the sculpture).

Villa's striving to expressiveness is not seen solely, however, in the sensory approach to realistically descriptive plane and texture. The theme plays an equal role, as does an emphasis on the gesture of the figure. The figures at the base of the heap in "La lotta" lie defeated, one over the other; the sorrowing mother throws wide her arms; even in the idealized portrait of the violinist the turn of the head is more than the usual movement with which the violinist holds his instrument under his chin. This movement implies a feeling similar to that pathetic-heroic expression seen in the two soldiers of the SCUlpture "Monumento al fante" by Villa's fellow-Italian, Eugenio Barroni (at the 18th Venice Biennale, 1932, fig. no. 27).

All the SCUlpture which Villa created in the prisoner-of-war camp, were of the type of classical art on the European continent. This was to be expected, as he had worked almost completely isolated for 5 years in the Zonderwater camp. He had the opportunity only once of visiting the Johannesburg Art Gallery in 1946, during an excursion organized for the prisoners interested in art ("Tra i Reticolati", 1946, p.21). Thus he probably had not seen much of the works of Lippy Lipshitz, Elsa Dziomba, or Willem de Sanderez Hendrickz, who mainly applied stylisation to the realism of given appearance (In sequence: Arnott, 1969, cat no. 275; Stein-Lessing, 1961, fig. IX; and Dekker, 1961, fig. 1.). Villa himself had started being interested in abstract art; possibly his attention had been drawn to it by his architect friends who very likely later gave him the report on the congress "Abstract art - in painting, photography, and architecture" which had been held in 1937 at the University of the witwatersrand.

Another movement in Western sculpture, apart form "heroic" stylisation which occurred in the thirties, was Constructivism, as seen in an exhibition in London in 1936 "Konstruktionen im Raum" (Hofmann, 1958, p , 167 ff.). During the forties, two prominent English sculptors nevertheless continued working in a monumental style with massive stylized volumes, as Henry Moore did in his "Madonna and child" of 1943-44, or in completely abstract, open form combined with line, as Barbara Hepworth did in "Wave", during the same years (Arnason, 1978, fig. 947).

Edoardo Villa was at the time still far from such abstractions. However, his use of hypothetical geometric frameworks as compositional guidelines to the SCUlptures he created during the war years, indicates that a development towards the structural in his approach had started. Then, too, the generalization of themes points to a striving towards more universal meaning.

During the first years after leaving the prisoner-of-war camp, Villa went through three other distinct phases within the relatively short time of about two years. In this time he experimented with simplification, stylisation, and abstraction,

26 in developing his own formal language.

GROUP III: 1947 - 1949

Having gone through the lengthy process of being cleared from the camp at Zonderwater, Villa in 1947 looked for a home in Johannesburg. In the same year he held his first exhibition of work done in camp. Thus he was immediately introduced to the Johannesburg publ i c , His "protector" from the camp, Dr. Sonnabend, had seen to it as chairman of the "South-African Society for Cultural Relation with Italy," which had just been founded with Mr P.A. Hendriks, Director of the Johannesburg Art Gallery as Vice-Chairman (exhib. cat. 1947).

Villa at first lived in a room in Joubert Park, later in a rondawel on the property of the terrazzo factory of the Lupini brothers (Fassler, 1961, p. 243) where he could gain first-hand knowledge of the problems of art stone casting. The long relief panel which was to be seen until recently (i.e. about 1982) along Louis Botha Avenue, was created at this time.

Villa created sculpture unceasingly. Financial problems however forced him to take on some other work as well, and in 1949 he worked for four days a week for the sculptor Hendri ckz , and assisted him in carrying out commissions like the large relief of the crest of the Union, as well as the bronze door of the Volkskas Building in Johannesburg.

During the next year, in 1950, a commission was awarded to Villa himself for the first time in South Africa: a relief of Saint Apollonia, patron saint of Dentistry. It was destined for the building of the Department of Dentistry at the University of the Witwatersrand.

Reproduction of two other reliefs by Villa from this time are available, on both of which women appear (colI. Milner; other unknown). Woman is also depicted in the fre2standing sculptures in private collections such as the small, abstracted "Madonna" (colI. Sandrelli) or "Mother and child" (colI. Herber), as well as the allegorical "Sorrow" (colI. unknown).

This change in theme during post-war years is particularly noticeable. Because of limited information in pre-war years, it • would be difficult to determine to what extent the themes of his sculpture had been his own choice, especially as the available examples were executed as commissions. Except for portraits, the choice made during the war years in camp was surely left to Villa, as sculpture was seen primarily as an occupational hobby. In camp, Villa created the traditional subjects, such as battle, "Piet6" mother and child and thinker, which were integral to his Italian background.

During the late forties the theme was the woman. The only known exception being the above mentioned relief cast in terrazzo, depicting the building industry in South Africa. This had probably

27 9

10

11 been created as a commission for the'Lupini brothers, in return for Villa being able to live in a cottage on their property.

The depiction of the hero archetype could be seen in the Colleoni relief (Jung, 1964, p. 79); now the mother-archetype had claimed Villa's attention. Indeed Villa does not show Colleoni where he "vanquishes evil in the form of dragons, serpents, monsters, and so on, and who liberates his people from destruction and death", but his attributes and the confidence emanating from the sculpture could suggest it. (Jung, 1964, p , 79 : "The universal hero myth '" always refers to a powerful man or god-man .•.").

On the other hand, in 1947 the female archetype appears. She was seen and depicted in various essential images: the young woman as in "Saint Apollonia", the girl as seen in "Sorrow" or the crouching young girl on one of the reliefs, with an almost closed dish as a type of attribute next to her (ill. 9). The earth mother can be seen on the same relief, with the open dish as attribute next to her, while the celestial mother, simultaneously queen, is depicted as Madonna (in colIs. Herber, Sandrelli).

No reference is made to the woman as embodiment of the sexual, instinctive, or emotional (cf. de Vries, 1974, p. 506). Villa depicts the woman mainly as the idealized, the admired creature. His female figures are all clothed, all with drapery which accentuates the essential volumes and the earthiness of the figure. Nevertheless the earthiness is not seductive, but expresses a condition: the women all appear to be turned in on their own dream world, (st. Apollonia, Sorrow) or deeply involved in the child they are cUddling (the Madonna's, the seated women).

It does seem, after all, ,that the situation in which Villa'finds himself influences his choice of subject matter. Encouraged by the forced hero-worship which was considered necessary to encourage national pride, Villa participated in depicting the famous citizens of Bergamo in pre-war years in Fascist Italy; during the war years he resorts to traditional themes in which he could express the sentiments of the time, and during the post-war years he cou~ possibly have expressed his personal experience in the ~eturn to a more private life in which the woman played an 1mportant role. .

The female archetype appears in Villa's work for only a few years as primary subject matter. Thereafter the woman appears only rarely, and then rather as the nude, with connotations of sexuality and fecundity. The woman as earthy being, as mother, is depicted in the sculpture of the twentieth century primarily by Henry Moore, in numerous variations, from monumental simplification to organic abstraction (Neumann, 1957, pp. 31-32). In his book on the archetypal world of Henry Moore, Neumann points out that the Great Mother archetype had been an object of religious veneration since earliest times, and thus had been an important sUbject of visual depiction over a long period. Neumann attaches organic and geometric qualities as principle characteristics to the female and male respectively: "the antithesis of the rounded, organic nature of the feminine is the

28 constructive, geometrical striving of the masculine mind, which with its calculating and measuring consciousness violates the feminine qualities of matter and moulds it to its own law." (Neumann, 1959, p.38).

Moore was not alone in adopting man as his theme: a new creation of the human figure in sculpture took place in Europe in spite of earlier developments to a completely non-figurative approach in the arts. The human figure reappeared in numerous variations: being human in the archaic condition whereby the centuries-old is emphasized, is embodied in e.g. "The horse and rider" of Marino Marini in 1947 (Arnason, 1978, fig. 968). The human as plantlike being is exemplified in Jean Arp's "Human Concretion" of the same year (Arnason, 1978, fig. 552). Antoine Pevsner in turn alreadY in 1926 shows the human reduced to structure in his "Portrait of Marcel Duchamp" (Arnason, 1978, fig. 666). Later in this study, more attention will be paid to the role played by the depiction of the human in Villa's oeuvre and in twentieth century sculpture in general.

As regards the formal qualities of Edoardo Villa's sculpture of the late forties, a comparison between the Colleoni relief which has already been discussed and the relief of st. Apollonia (ill. 10) can be revealing. Thus the latter is examined more extensivelY in this section of the study. The relief of the two women (ill. 9) compared to Maillol, and the free-standing "Sorrow" (ill. 11) will also be examined briefly. The figure "Sorrow" is important, particularly as regards characteristics of verticality and frontality which would become typical of almost the whole of Edoardo Villa's oeuvre.

"Saint Apollonia" is a shallow, circular relief in cast stone ("terrazzo"). The relief is in the centre of a projecting part of the northern facade of the Dentistry Building on the southern side of the Campus of the University of the Witwatersrand situated in Braamfontein. (ill. 10) As the only circular motif, it contrasts sharply with the facade which consists of a pattern of three large squares subdivided into rectangular windows and square cement casettes.

The circle is not only the circumference or outline of the relief, but determines the whole composition. Line repeats rhythmical curves in the circumscription of the simplified forms which constitute the human figure. The problem of a composition within a circle is however not solved by repeating the circular motif in curved lines. Perhaps Villa remembered the famous work by Raphael, the painting "Madonna della Sedia" of c. 1516 in the Palazzo pitti in Florence (Gombrich, 1966, fig. 107) which suggested guidelines to a successful composition.

The compositional simiJarities between Villa's "Apollonia" and Raphael's "Madonna" are in fact striking. In both cases the female figure is depicted seated, with her right shoulder towards the viewer. In both the compositions of Villa and Raphael the front kr..ee of the woman is very important as a formal balance to her head. In Villa's relief the enlarged pincers, the most important

29 attribute of Apollonia, take the equivalent place of the child in the composition of Raphael' s Ma~onna. Almost all lines are curved, and repeat the circular motif of the outline. The only vertical line is supplied by the arm rest of the chair in Raphael's composition; in Villa's relief by the lines of the book under her arm, one of the Saint's other attributes.

Raphael's composition shows a closed view of mUltiple, overlapping massive forms. Villa's compositioy is equally closed, but rather in the sense that the figure has b~en "spread" to turn her torso to the front, thus filling the rellef plane. A certain degree of distortion results as regards the anatomically correct connection between torso and legs, the latter being seen rather in profile. Although the relief is shallow, the simplified volumes of the figure suggest huge masses. Allied to that, the rhythmically balanced composition in the closed circle endows the figure with monumentality.

The opposites organic-geometric are more evident in the "Saint Apollonia", because here too, they are not reciprocally enhancing, but still contrasting, as was seen in the earlier "Colleoni" relief. The realistically organic modelling of the hands contrast noticeably with the geometrically stylized folds of the clothing. Furthermore, the anatomically correct depiction of the figure contrasts with the geometric volumes of sphere and column, which constitutes the figure as a whole. Planes are sometimes sharply defined as in the edge of the hair, and in the book. In this case, however, the face of the saint differs from the Colleoni, being treated more geometrically: the head has been conceived as a sphere, on which the simplified features have been applied. In the bas-relief of the two crouching women (ill. 9) the geometric quality is not so much evident in the sharpness of line, as in the monumental conceptualized volumes which make up the figures. The geometric character has thus shifted from a type of surface treatment to gradually becomi~; a more form-determinant principle in Villa's work. Although both Villa's female figures are clothed, they have certain similarities to the sculpture of the French sculptor Aristide Maillol (1861 - 1944). A comparison of Villa's female figures with the "Mediterranee" by Maillol, completed in 1906, is indeed revealing (Hackelsberger, 1960, fig. 6) •

A geometric concept is the underlying structure of the sensual fullness of Maillol's symbolic female figure: "Die architektonische Gesichtspunkt ist schwer zu treffen ... Dabei gehe ich immer von einer geometrischen Figur aus, Quadrat Raute order Dreieck, weil diese Figuren am besten im Raum wirken" (Hackelsberger, 1960, quoting J. Cladel, p.25). The modelling of the forms is however highly organic as regards the thrusting fUllness of volumes and the flowing transitions between them. Villa's forms are far more distinctly defined. Thus the geometric form as such appears far more distin~tly and a type of crystalline form results, particularly in the case of the young woman. In Villa's relief the detail of hands, feet, and the faces are stylized, which further accentuates the geometric nature of the other parts. The contrast between realistically described form in

30 certain parts, and form based on geometric volumes in others, has diminished in this relief; nevertheless a different type of tension appears between the opposites in this case, i.e. between the given realistic data and the pattern-like method with which it has been stylized, particularly in the feet.

Although Villa's relief were first modelled in clay, none of the strongly varied textures of the sculptures of the early forties has been retained. Villa returned to a smooth surface similar to that of the thirties. Amongst other deciding factors, the demands of the differing techniques must have been determinant, as the work of the war years had been conceived with a view to bronze, where!'is the reliefs of the late forties had been intended for cast:j,ng in "terrazzo" (a type of synthetic stone, much used in building facades). Fine nuances in modelling would have complicated the task of casting into a brittle medium such as "terrazzo". In any. case, such detail probably would not have been visible on the matt surface of such a material.

Technique alone was however not the determining factor. Geometric volumes were discernible in the underlying form of even the expressionistically modelled works in Zonderwater, as was seen in the analysis of "II Violinista". Villa's preference for clearly defined forms is thus again reaffirmed in his reliefs. It appears that for Villa texture is a separate part of the visual language. Attention will again be paid to this aspect in the course of this study, to determine to what extent this is the case. '- " '~lthough less monumental, the free~standing figure "Sorrow" had been composed along similar formal principles (ill. 11). The Flothing has 'been simplified in the search of geometric plane and volume. The head is primarily an egg-shape. The geometric aspect is further emphasised by the symmetrical arrangement of the figure. with "symmetry" is implied the arrangement of equal elements on both sides of a central line or axis (Concise Oxford Dictionary). In this figure symmetry can be observed in the parallel legs, feet carrying equal weight, hands clasped so that the arms are bent in a sharp angle, and the head bowed exactly over both hands. The whole composition is symmetrical and directed forward, as in the frontal composition found in Egyptian and Archaic Greek sculpture. The proportions of the figure are lengthened - 7 1/2 head lengths instead of the normally accepted 6 1/2. This length and slenderness accentuates the vertical composition and thereby expresses the concept of the figure as a column, a concept which was to become one of the most important characteristics of Villa's sculpture.

This concept of the columnar figure which occurs already in the earliest of Greek sculpture (cf. Gardner, 1975, fig. 5 - 14) is even more- clearly evident in the "Madonna" of the Herber collection.. The clothing no ~longer reveals anything of the underlying anatomical forms, ~d takes on an encapsulating tubular form. As time passed, Villa would gradually strip away more and more detail to attain the tubular form serving in itself as sign of the human figure.

31 At this point in time, Villa could thus be placed at the same level as his South-African colleagues as regards simplification and stylisation. A few examples: Elza Dziomba (as does Lippy Lipshitz) uses indigenous wood to carve a stylized sculpture such as "Female torso" (Ons Kuns 2, figs. III, IV, p. 88) while Zoltan Borbereki takes stylisation further, almost to the point of abstraction in the bowed female torso of 1946 (colI. B.L. Kramer, Jhb.) (fig. 5).

The term "abstract" is used as the concept has been determined by Winkler Prins van de Kunst: "Abstract worden ook de kunstvormen genoemd, waarin door deformatie en sterk abstrahering van de natuurformen de oorspronkelijke, inspirierende voorstelling nog maar met moeite herkend kan worden •.. " (Juynboll, 1959, p. 118). Indeed the female figure is still discernible in Borbereki' s sculpture but the formal aspect has been developed further than simplification or stylisation, by renouncing realistic factors.

Coert Steynberg's well-known "Boesmanmeidjie" of 1947 (Bosman, 1968, fig. 6) carved in wonderstone, has been simplified to stylized organic forms. Willem de Sanderez Hendrickz, in whose studio Villa went to work, also carved some wooden sculptures, La. the highly stylized "Crucified Ghandi" (Ons Kuns 2, fig. III, p , 28).

It is noticeable that most of the above mentioned artists carve many of their works in wood or stone. Villa however never does any carving - he is by nature a modeller, who eventually adopted conceptually allied construction techniques.

M. Bokhorst (1954, p. 48) was of the opinion that evidence of expressionism in South African sculpture could be seen in the dominant stylisation of Hendrickz' s works. Villa's stylisation and simplification of form in striving to larger volume, mass and monumentality, does not aim at expressing the strong emotions of the artist as was possibly the case with Hendrickz. For Villa, stylisation in this case was expressive of the more general, earthy, introspect, steadfast and more spiritual aspects of the Eternal Woman and Mother.

SUMMARY

Important characteristics of Villa's future formal language can already be identified in the sculpture of the years 1947 to 1949, which has been discussed in Group III. Especially important is the vertical composition, which would subsequently become the primary compositional structure. Often this was encapsulated to become an enclosed whole, by which the single forms are continuously more densely constructed around a core. This also implies a lessening of gesture. In many cases symmetry and frontality are allied with verticality.

More extensive simplification and enclosed form with a smooth finish similar to that of the thirties, is characteristic of his formal language.

32 After the war years Villa made a big change in sUbject matter. The female figure appeared to become the most important; she is also depicted in various roles, thereafter playing a far lesser part in Villa's oeuvre. In spite of reference to conventional themes, a tendency to a depictiop of more universal concepts was discernible in the striving toward essential form. The process was to be continued in the fifties, in increasing abstraction by which realistic detail is eliminated.

GROUP IV: 1950 - 1957

In spite of continuous financial problems, resulting in a lack of space and materials, Edoardo Villa carried on with his sculpture uninterruptedly. Nevertheless the fifties were to become determininant for his future. He discovered new materials which offered other possibilities in form; he was accepted in South Africa and came to be highly regarded as an artist, to the extent that his work was chosen to represent his new home country at an international exhibition overseas. Villa met two people who were to become his life-long friends and who would encourage and assist him in many ways: Vittorino Meneghelli and Norman Herber.

As was seen in Villa's work of the late forties, he was involved in a process of simplification of form. A catalogue containing many reproductions of the work of his fellow-Italian, Alberto Viani, given to Villa by Meneghelli, a keen art dealer and collector, may have supplied some guidelines for the continuation of the process. Viani had in fact a style similar to that of Jean Arp, but he created torsos in Plaster of Paris and marble, in more geometricised, crystalline forms.

Villa's transition to increasing abstraction can be seen in the still fairly realistic "Three Women" where he broke .away from anatomic structure as can be seen in the interrelationship of arms and shoulders (Watter, 1974, fig. no. 5). Furthermore it is thematically important that the nude female figure appears for the first time as SUbject in Villa's oeuvre, as far as could be ascertained from available material.

Indeed much more photographic material and works from this period are available than was the case with earlier phases. Photographs which have been kept by the artist show ten sculptures, whose present owners could, however, not be traced. Five sculptures of which two were later cast in bronze, can be viewed in private collections (H. Saenger, L. Cohen, (2 works), N. Herber, F. Klenerman). The human torso appears to have been the basic form of most of these sculptures, with the exception of two which appear to relate more to animal types.

Villa's increasing abstraction of form can be seen as a striving to the expression of the essential. In the sculptures of the previous group, the conventional content of virgin, mother (earthy and celestial) and the holy woman, was recognizable. In the smoothly polished Plaster of Paris sculptures of this period, the geueralized human torso supplies the basic form, but is not the sole carrier of the theme. As detail and specific characteristics

33 14 15 decrease, so the variety of possible content increases. Such a relationship between simple form and multiple meaning is elaborated by Hofmann in his discussion of Brancusi's early works: "An Brancusis Anfangen bewahrheitet sich das Gesetz, dass die einfachste Formen die umfassendste Inhalte vermitteln" and further" In den einfachsten Formen sucht Brancusi die Wesenheiten aUf, er stiliziert nicht, er abstrahiert nicht, er verschliesst die Welt im Ursprunglichen." (Hofmann, 1958, p. 89). The same could be said of Jean Arp, although he worked in a completely different formal language to that of Brancusi.

Simple forms in themselves are not necessarily very meaningful: the intense involvement of the artist with the material, in his striving to attain a simple, but essential and elemental form corresponding to his intuitive insight, is what makes the content inherent in form. Form thus becomes increasingly important as carrier of content, instead of the theme being the carrier, as was the case in earlier works by Villa.

For analysis of Villa's formal language in this group, two works are discussed in greater detail: "Seated figure" (ill. 12) and "(Reclining) Figure" (ill. 13). These two works have been chosen from amongst the 15 known sculptures, for two reasons: they carry all the typical characteristics of this period and they show the opposites organic-geometric respectively as guidelines of his formal language.

The "Seated figure" (ill. 12) was simplified to a completely enclosed organic mass. The composition is based on the seated torso, with a slight twist to "open" the figure to one side, similar to the position of st. Appolonia. This position is comparable to the classical seated or reclining figures of the Greek temple pediments (Poulsen, 1967, ill's p. 11 and p. 68). Michelangelo intensified the twisting movement in both· seated and reclining figures, particularly to be seen in the allegorical figures of the Medici tombs (Baumgart, 1966, ill. 144: "Nacht"). In the 20th century it is found again in the reClining figure, favourite SUbject of Henry Moore (Read, "Henry Moore", 1965, ill's 102, 103, 142, '144).

In Villa's "Seated figure" plane is continuous, homogeneous, and organ1c, and enclosed volume or hollow with the same tension, without sharp limits or interruptions. Allied to that is the smooth texture which does not interfere with the subtle transitions between planes. Sometimes the surfaces of these works have become quite shiny after years of being polished with wax, which has almost given it the radiance of polished marble.

Villa had in fact filed these plaster sculptures so that even the marks of controlled modelling which had still been visible on the previous stylized works, haabeen removed. This finish is clearly allied to the formal language, and the expressiveness sought in that approach. Because it is so smooth, the surface almost "(Hsappears" visually, and the piece of sculpture as physical entity becomes less "visible". On the other hand, form as concept

34 is perceived all the more clearly, and is more abstract. Herbert Read points out this opposition between "matter and spirit" where he quotes Max Raphael in a discussion of prehistoric pottery. The latter is also of the opinion that there is a striving ·to the removal of, or even emphasis on the opposites by "dematerializing the material and materializing the immaterial" (Read, Origins, 1965, p. 25). Thus the weight of the ceramic form is negated by the smoothly polished surface. The particularly smooth texture (or in fact, no "texture") is also one of the important expressive means in the "dematerialization" of Brancusi' s essential forms (Read;,1969, ill. 130. "Bird in space", 1919).

In previous periods of the history of art, a unity of formal language and thus also of texture prevailed; in the 20th century, however, a great variety of form, material and textures can be found,. even within the oeuvre of a single sculptor. Nearly all the works of Moore during the early fifties are especially smoothly finished, for example; such as the important "Upright Internal and External Forms" for which he created the maquette and working models in 1951 (Read, "Moore", 1965, ill's 164, 165, 166). Where Moore subsequently worked more figuratively, creating the draped woman in bronze, textures of modelling and filing appear again.

Texture and colour are closely allied: this can be observed in the works of Marino Marini for example, who finished one of his most important "Horse and Rider" sculptures in wood in 1950 (Read, 1964, ill. 245, 1949 - 50). He still added colour to the strong texture of carving marks, thus emphasising the material of the sturdy, earthy forms. Just as Marini does, the Austrian sculptor Fritz Wotruba emphasises physical presence in the rough texture of the stone from which he carves his cubic structures (Heer, 1961, ill. 8).

Villa maintains the smooth texture for the more geometric torso known as "(Reclining) Figure" (ill. 13). Just as in the case of the "Seated figure" discussed before, the form is based on the human, here even identifiable as the female torso. In this case the twisting movement between chest and hips is also present, but the knees are pulled up high, and bent. Where the "Seated figure" was couched in mainly organic formal language, the formal qualities of this torso were much more geometric.

Line is geometric in this torso, and delineats the chest in particular in even geometric planes. Boundaries between forms are generally clear: the outline of each form is harsher, although curved, and rhythmically successive. The seat of the figure is, however, fuller and more organic, and the connection to the legs is more subtle. The contrast between organic and geometric is thus apparent in this sculpture, and endows the "(Reclining) Figure" with more tension and vivacity than seen in the harmonious unity of the "Seated figure".

The emphasis which was previously placed on the appearance of the vertical composition, frontality and symmetry in Edoardo Villa's formal language, may appear to have been unmotivated in the

35 discussion of this group of sculptures as those qualities were not to be observed here. This type of composition appears to have been an interim phase, because during the succeeding decades the vertical composition in particular, built as standing human figure, was to become one of the characteristics of Villa's oeuvre.

SUMMARY

The elimination of detail and simplification of form led to increased abstraction during the two years of the early fifties. Thus Edoardo Villa approximated the concept of form in itself being the conveyor of content. In this, he was increasingly participating in a process which had already commenced early in the 20th century, which Herbert Read described as follows: ••• "the representation of the phenomenal image given in visual perception was abandoned as the immediate motif of the artist's activity, and in its place the artist elaborated a sYmbol, which might still retain reminiscences of,. or references to, the phenomenal object, but no longer sought to give a faithful report of the optical image (Read, 1969, p. 54).

Villa thus created less with the given forms gained by sensory impressions (the sensory, consciDus, given) and more with structures (concepts of form) which he intuitively sensed to be essential. But he always, however subtly, maintains the human figure as basic structure for his forms, which he then enlivens by a fine balance between the organic and geometric qualities.

SUbsequently villa got to know other sculptural materials and techniques. With these possibilities, coupled with his greater confidence in handling abstracted formal concepts, he went off in another direction in his development of form and content.

GROUP V: 1952 - 1957

After his first exhibition in 1947 Edoardo Villa had exhibited almost annually. In 1952 he exhibited with a group of Johannesburg artists, which possibly indicates how he had been included in the Johannesburg art world. This group of artists with whom he had eXhibited, had gathered to found their own gallery, called the "Gallerie Independent" (UStar", 25 November 1952). The group consisted of Jan Buys, Sidney Goldblatt, J. Russell, A. Newall, Douglas portway, Joan Clare, Rosalind Hartslet, Rabin and Elza Dziomba.

As regards their work, the early designs of Albert Newall in particular show striking similarities to the early works that Villa created in steel. Pen-and-crayon drawings in the collection of B.L. Kramer (Johannesburg) could almost have been a preparatory study for Villa' s "Assailants'!., while a later painting "opposition of related forms" in the S.A. National Gallery in Cape Town (inv. no 58/4) correlates with the sharp strips of metal which Villa used increasingly in the late fifties. Villa's trans1tion to the use of metal was in fact a gradual process, and an important

36 change in medium which was to affect his whole oeuvre.

Metal, especially steel, has been considered to be the particular medium of the 20th century. The use of metal to build a sculpture directly, and not by casting it as fluid medium replacing previously modelled forms, had started early in the 20th century when Pablo Gargallo (1881 - 1934) had created iron sculptures for the first time in 1911 (Read, 1964, p , 66). Only much later Picasso, with the help of his friend Julio Gonzalez (1876 - 1942), created 50 sculptures between 1930 and 1932, such as "Construction Head" in the new technique of "assemblage" (Putting together of existing shapes) (Read, Modern Sculpture 1964, fig. 58, p. 67). Picasso also created linear frameworks in wire in 1930, such as the "Construction in wire" with which he helped topple all preconceived ideas of sculpture being an art of mass (Read, 1964, fig. 66). Gonzalez himself rather constructed compositions with subtle figurative connotations, as in the "Hombre-Cactus No 2" of 1939-40 (Read 1964, fig. 60). The play with objects which previously had a specific meaning in another context, took on a new shade of meaning by inclusion in the "assemblage", resulting from the relationships intuitively perceived by the artist. Such conceptualistic constructions should thus be distinguished from the work of the Constructivists. According to Read (1964, p. 70) "a Constructivist 'construction' as evolved by Tatlin, Gabo and Rodchenko, was deliberately impersonal, and the spatial relations it created were as abstract as a mathematical formula -".

Although Villa did not create his early work in metal along the conceptualistic assemblage technique, but in the neutral material of iron sheets and rods, he did not aim at the impersonal quality of mathematical relationships. His are always constructions which refer to organic structures, whether they be plant life or the human figure. The gradual process of transition to metal had started in 1953 When Villa modelled for a cheaper casting material than bronze, i.e. cast iron. Only two years later he learnt to weld the metal ("Plan", 1970, p. 26). Only three examples of compositions done in cast iron are known: "Revolving Form" (Hillhouse, 1954, fig. p , 22) "Head and string form" (found between Villa's pile of photographs) and "Rhythmic Group" (ill. 14). Only the latter could be traced, and could be shown on the retrospective exhibition "Villa 80" (colI. J .E. Binder).

The non-figurative forms and composition of these works in cast iron originated in abstract vertical compositions based on the human figure which has been transposed into a framework, such as the "Figure with Drapery", in a similar series (ill, 15) (one of which is in the Schlesinger collection, the other in a private collection in Israel). The elements of these human structures function increasingly as independant units within the vertical composition, as can be seen in the SCUlpture "untitled" (colI. Lily Sachs). (Lily Sachs was a fellow-sculptor and good amateur Photographer, who recorded most of Villa's works at that time.)

In the abovementioned process of abstraction which evolved during the five year period under discussion, Villa increasingly joined in an art development of the twentieth century, which has been

37 summed up by E.H. Ramsden as follows: "Break up of the image in the face of a growing awareness of those dynamic forces which operate within .•• " and: "for the external, the internal aspect of phenomena was substituted, for the notion of form as a circumscribed entity, the notion of form as a 'diagram of forces' .•. , for mass, energy, and for a particular form, a system of relationships." (Ramsden, 1953, p. 35).

Breaking open the form to expose the dynamic forces operating within in a "diagram of forces" does not necessarily mean chaos or disorder. Ernesto Grassi (Grassi, 1947, p. 131) asks thetorically: "denn weisen Kraftlinien und Kraftfelder nicht ebenfalls auf eine Ordnung .••". Villa maintains a strong ordering priciple by creating a strict envelope, the vertical compositional framework, around the exposed forms (ill. 15). Indeed, the \vertical composition which was noted-for the first time in 1949 ~in the female draped figure "Sorrow", was to become the ~stablished structure in Villa's work during these five years. l Line became an increasingly important formal element in the vertical figurative and eventually non-figurative abstraction. Line is built up in rhythmic curves and angles around the hypothetical vertical axis of the sculpture. Initially it is coupled with volume and mass, as in "Figure with Drapery" (ill. 15) and in "Rhythmic Group" (ill. 14) the first cast iron sculpture. But the line becomes an independent element when Villa later commences working with steel rods and Sheets, as seen in the "Assailants" (1955, ill. 16) and "African Rhythm (ill. 17). Plane, too, undergoes change in the development from figurative to non­ figurative, and from modelled ·to constructed sculpture: in the modelled work, planes enclose organic forms, where texture can be observed to a certain extent ("Rhythmic Group" ill. 14). In sculptures of steel plates, painted an even black,. plane is geometric by the very nature of the plates; nevertheless the organic element is present in the soft bending and curves into which Villa has formed the steel sheets as in the "Assailants" (ill. 16). "It is striking that the development of formal language, from the enclosed organic or geometric forms of the late forties, to figurative compositions -based on almost geometric frameworks, (ill. 15) continuing through to non-figurative compositions with organic forms (ill. 14) and then to non-figurative compositions with geometric forms but in a organic cohesion, (ill. 16) should be concurrent with changes in technique. During his development though these changes, Villa adopts various media, i.e. smoothly polished Plaster .of Paris, modelling around frameworks, and construction of frameworks.

Indeed, material and technique alone do not solely determine the development of formal ideas; the availability of a certain medium however does facilitate the development or even discovery of a formal idea. Kleinbauer (1971, p.421) states this as follows: "materials and techniques ... do not in themselves create artistic id~oms. Significant changes in the formal qualities of works of art can take place -without appreciable change in materials and

38 16 17

18

18 techniques, and vice versa, although changes in the two usually go hand in hand."

The formal change of material and technique is thus allied with a change in expressive possibility. By concentrating on lines and fields of energy, (Grassi, 1957, p. 131) expression is achieved rather by gesture movement, and tension, than by mass, the monumental, and the eternal. Here we arrive at further opposites of sculpture: gesture - the becoming; mass - the essential, existing. These opposites too would subsequently be played off against one another, or sometimes even combined in villa's work.

Some of the earliest characteristics of sculpture had been mass, enclosed form, and monumentality (Examples are "Gudea worshipping" c. 2100 B.C., Gardner, 1975, fig. 2-18; "Temple of Rameses" 1257 B.C., Gardner, fig. 3-22; "Kroisos" c. 540-515 B.C., Garner, fig. 5-16). Gesture and movement are not completely absent, but is very controlled, especially in free-standing sculpture. Sculpture was endowed with completely new expressiveness once it was liberated from traditional materials and from its traditional position as part of architecture, and since new conceptions arose as to the expressiveness that free-standing three-dimensional constructions could achieve (Hofmann, 1958, p. 95).

During the fifties Villa broke away from the enclosed forms which he had refined slightly, and started experimenting in other materials, i.e. iron and steel. With these he could more readily explore the expressiveness of gesture and suggested movement. (The expressive possibilities offered by construction in metal aside, this technique was excellently suited to villa, being by nature a modeller who wants to build quickly and spontaneously and equally rapidly change or even break down and rebuild again freely. )

It appears however that Villa I s colleagues did not grasp the formal possibilities of the use of steel, by which other ways of expression would have become accessible. This could be ascribed to the fact that they did not search for a change in formal means and thus did not sense the need for any other material. On the other hand the use of welded metal as sculptural material may still have appeared to be foreign. Thus carving in stone and wood remained the dominant technique, mostly abstracted or stylized works, such as the "Hollow Torso", 1953, by Lippy Lipshitz (Arnott, 1969, cat. no. 325) or "Africa" by Zoltan Borbereki, 1953, (colI. Durban Art Museum) (fig. 7). Even the non-figurative sculpture "Vrouefiguur" 1954-5, by Elsa Dziomba (Ons Kuns 2, ill. XI, p.90) is carved in blue wonderstone and verdite.

It is however noteworthy that Johannesburg painters went though the same process of opening form and creating structures as did Villa in the fifties. This can be observed especially in the works of artists who had received their training at the University of the Witwatersrand, and who were later called the "wits Group" (Berman, 1970, p. 337). Painters grouped under this name were Christo Coetzee, Nel Erasmus, Larry Scully, Cecil Skotnes, and Gordon Vorster. From the

39 middle fifties their works showed similarities in the way the sUbject was broken up into planes which contributed to the negation of space expressed by perspective, and which had the emphasis of the picture plane as primary goal. Gordon Vorster created a network of lines which holds the colour planes in position over the picture plan, or spans them, as in "Voelberg" 1958 (Alexander, 1962, p. 114). The painting shows interesting similarities to the sculpture "African Rhythm" by Villa, 1955 (ill. 17).

In her studies "Yellow nude" or "still life with fruit" (Berman, 1970, fig. opposite p. 81; fig. 105) Erasmus places paintmarks with an autonomous expressive value around a central point, resulting in a circular structure. These paintings have striking similarities with Villa's "Winter"; Cecil Skotnes developed compositions of dark planes with lines stretched across the gaps, as in his "African Rhythm" (colI. SANG, inv. nr. 64/4). Even the apparently realistic studies by Christo coetzee such as "Portrait of my sister" (colI. Kimberley, William Humphreys Museum) (fig. 8) also negate space by the way the subject fills the whole canvas area, and the loose brush strokes accentuate the painting as a painted image.

The tendency towards increasing abstraction which is observed in the "Wits Group" and in Villa's sculpture, led to the diminishing of conventional content. Women in various capacities had served as subject matter in Villa's sculpture during the late forties. During the early fifties she still appeared as torso, although the torso became increasingly derived from the human form in general. In the work of the five years up to 1957 the female form still briefly appeared as "Figure with Drapery" (ill. 15) where the drapery can be seen as the remnants of clothing.

The anguished figure is however already being reduced to a structure, becoming transparent and disembodied. with "structure" is meant the concept of composition as a whole in the two- or three-dimensional sense. with "construction" is meant the physical process or product of building up with a material.

Eventually only the structure and rhythmical movement remained in villa's sculpture as carriers of meaning and expression. Content, whether it be movement, aggression, or growth, is innate in the abstract forms. Apparently Villa had started reducing conventional . content and subject for composition in this phase of his development. References to the human structure disappeared almost completely, to reappear again SUbtly in 1962.

Often the appearance of sharp, thorny forms are used to explain Villa's receptivity to the visual elements which he absorbed from his new environment. As Villa lived in rooms in apartment blocks or at a factory up to 1959, and seldom if ever travelled in South Africa, the question arises whether he in fact consciously absorbed any formal elements. Sharply pointed forms could equally well have resulted from the aggression he felt as regards his financial straits (cf. Watter, 1967, p.l) or as a result of the possibly problematic first marriage (with Fiona Doran) as it

40 21

22 23 lasted only two years (1955 - 57) (Watter, 1967, p.1). Most probably all these factors played a role, and were inextricably part of Villa's self-generating creative process. This process would become ever more clearly discernible in time. It can however already be observed in this group of works: pointed and curved forms of "drapery" in the "Figure with drapery" (ill. 15) are adopted as the main formal elements of the "Rhythmic Group" (ill. 14). In turn these forms are again adapted in iron, with the same curves and type of rhythm, to create the "Assailants" (ill. 16).

This process is however not always strictly consecutive in exactly chronological sequence, as can be seen in the variations of dates which occur here in particular. Both Watter (1967) and Fassler (1961) date the "Rhythmic Group" at 1955. On the RAU documentation card the date is 1953. According to a list of works the sculpture was exhibited at the "International Art Club" in October 1954, thus 1953 does seem to be the more likely date. Villa constantly switches from modelling and constructing during his career, and tracing the precise course of reciprocal influence exercised on the forms which are developed in each technique is no simple matter.

SUMMARY:

Edoardo Villa's sculpture during the fifties evolved through the most radical changes in his whole career. He switched from the technique of modelling to that of construction. He did however not give up modelling: this was to remain an important corollary in his oeuvre. The tendency towards abstraction already present at an early stage, was intensified by the use of construction as ~echnique. By its very nature the new material led to a decrease ~n mass: .}n this Villa apparently joined in one of the tendencies of twentl.eth century sculpture, expressed as follows by David Smith, leading American sculptor of wrought-iron: "Romantically speaking, the indication of form by bulk mass does not possess its old validity." However, he also said: "Mass is energy, space is energy." Villa however did not hereby reject mass; later it would become evident how he was able to express energy (earlier also denoted as "gesture") in mass as well (Smith, 1968, p.54).

Another major and determinant change in Villa I s work is the conceptual change in the creative process. Villa no longer simplifies, stylizes or abstracts, rather he creates structures with the given formal material (e.g. strips, rods). A similar process had been observed in the work of Fritz Wotruba: "ISitzende' von 1959 ... die die Erfahrungen des Kubismus ins ~egenteil verkehrt, in dem nicht vom Objekt ausgegangen wird, das a n zahlreichen Facetten erlegt erscheint, sondern aus Grund­ elementen kubischer B16cke das objekt neu gewonner. wird," (Baumgart, 1966, p. 323, cf. also Hammacher, 1969, p.259). ~ubsequently the method of construction, and the creation of ~ntuitively conceived structures would be the important factors ~n Villa's creative processes.

SUMMARY OF CHAPTER 1:

41 In the first chapter of this study on Edoardo Villa his formative years against the background of Classical Italian Humanism within a Fascist period was examined, and Villa's development during the war years, as well as the early works in a new environment, was shortly reviewed. In a period of ten years (1947 to 1957) Villa had made fast-changing stylistic changes in the course of experimenting and search. By the middle fifties he was increasingly rejecting conventional subject-matter, and was joining general twentieth century tendencies to express content in the material and structure of the sculpture itself.

This chapter could have been closed in 1956, but equally well the period considered here could have been considered to end in 1958 or 1959. Such decisions in the oeuvre of an artist are difficult, as changes in the development of any artist, as equally with Villa, do not follow in strict sequence. Often they rather evolve in a continuous, interlinked process. This chapter however ends with the work of 1957, as Villa had started in a definite direction in that year, adopting a specific medium which he was to make his own.

Just as with other formal elements, line and plane too snov changes. In the first works in Italy line and plane is applied as stylising elements over the given realistic forms. During the war years the plane is fractured and flickering, to enhance the expressiveness of the realistic figures. In the late forties it subsequently became increasingly organic and fluid, to envelop disembodied mass in simplified torsos during the earlier fifties; plane then served as geometric element, as opposed to organicallY rounded forms. When Villa started using metal as construction material, line and plane naturally achieved independent value, and became expressive in rhythmical structures in space, resulting in the temporary exclusion of volume and mass.

Texture is a quality of the plane, and changes in textures were closely linked with the above mentioned developments. The earliest marble reliefs were given a smooth and neutral finish; the expressionistic realism of the war years was allied with rough texture, a product of the modelling technique. More even textures are suited to a more geometric formal language, also to the more simplified forms of the torsos. Smooth texture is by nature integral to the material, the prefabricated metal elements which Villa increasingly employed - and was emphasised by a layer of black paint.

The opposites of organic-geometric which were observed already in the first reliefs, underwent various shifts. Initially, in the works in Italy, the opposites are strongly contrasting, then, during the war years formal language is mainly organic, however within the hypothetical frameworks such as the cube or py~amid. During the late forties an imbalance between the organic, realistic given form- and geometric stylisation can be sensed; however geometric forms increasingly serve as essential bases. The fifties start off with predominantly simplified forms, against Which geometric elements such as planes, spheres, or cuts are placed as counter-balance or to enliven by contrast. During the

42 later fifties, the balance between the opposites is better achieved and they are reciprocally enhancing. Organic forms clothe geometric structures. When the geometric structure begins to dominate in certain works, Villa again does some modelling (as in the series "Growing Form" 1957 (ill. 20» to return to the organic fUllness of form. Changes of technique and form do not occur without concomitant changes in content. Villa started off with famous citizens and angels, as requested to complete commissions. In Zonderwater he chose traditional subject-matter to render the sentiments of the time. After the war he created archetypal female figures. Eventually the archetypal disappeared, to be replaced by universal forms of human or animal torsos. With the increasing tendency towards the essential form, it is a natural development to search as well for the underlying structure of the external form.

Thus even the reference to any human image disappears. Only a few early works such as the Colleoni-relief and "Sorrow" showed the typical characteristics of vertical figurative sculptures, i.e. frontality and symmetry, which were to become the special quality of Villa's work during the sixties. On the other hand, rhythmical structure had become carrier of content.

This implies too that expressiveness had shifted from the conventional theme, clothed in massive volumes, by a process of stylisation, simplification and abstraction, to the denial of mass in favour of maximum movement and rhythm in structures of line and plane. Content becomes general, encompassing, as reflected in titles which contain words like "Rhythm, structure, Form".

SUbsequently Edoardo Villa mainly adopted the method of constructing sculpture. The structures which he created could be increasingly recognized as intuitive images of his new environment and the local situation, in particular when the human image appears again as stark vertical symmetr~cal totem.

43 CHAPTER 2

1958 - 1970

The twelve year period which is covered in this chapter, was the time in which Edoardo Villa established himself. Firstly he proved his position as artist, as his work was chosen for the Sao Paolo Biennale in 1957, a year after he had represented South Africa with his sculpture at the Venice Biennale (Berman, 1970, p. 227). Two years later he was to represent his new borne again at the Sao Paolo Biennale, and in 1958 his sculpture was exhibited in Venice (Berman, 1970, p.315).

Misfortune dogged him in 1959, however, when he was ill for some time and had to undergo two operations (conversation with N. Herbert, 1979). This same year was however also an important turning pointing in his life. It led to a more settled way of life when he had the opportunity of purchasing a property with a small house from his friend the painter Douglas Portway, who had decided to leave South Africa (Berman, 1974, p , 236). His financial situation was probably also improving, as growing contacts with architects brought him more commissions (e.g. the relief for the "Carlton Butchery"). The opportunity to create a SCUlpture for the South African pavilion at Milner Park, (ill. 18) gave him the opportunity of creating one of the largest steel sculptures of his career in 1960, only five years after he had learnt to weld metal. This SCUlpture, called "Africa", was 6,75 metres high, and was later installed at the Iscor Headquarters in Pretoria. This would be surpassed only twenty years later by "The Knot" of more than 8 metres, which was completed for the Cape Town Municipality.

The industrialisation which occurred in South Africa during the sixties, and which contributed to villa becoming increasingly involved in steel, also led to the development of an established urban black population. As a result of this, black artist, encouraged and assisted by their white colleagues, began to appear on the scene (Berman, 1970, p. 17). Villa too made his contribution to this development by taking the promising Sydney Kumalo into his studio form 1958 to 1960, where he could learn basic techniques of SCUlpture (van Rensburg, 1970, p. 29).

The sculpture which Edoardo Villa produced during the 12 years under discussion in this chapter has been subdivided into three groups. The first group dated from 1957 to 1961, includes works which have the least figurative connotations of Villa' s whole oeuvre. The sculptures of the following two groups, i.e. that of 1961 to 1967, and of 1968 to 1970, again become more figurative, but are created according to very differing principles.

GROUP VI: 1957 - 1961

Edoardo Villa could create much faster, having eliminated the time­ consuming processes of modelling and casting in favour of direct construction with steel elements. As a result a very large number of works fall within Group VI, from 1957 to 1961. The earlier supposition that Villa worked in series (e.g. the cast iron

44 sculptures like "Rhythmical Group", 1953, ill. 14) is verified here, where the owners of many sculptures are known, and photographic recording is plentiful.

In spite of Villa's increasing adoption of steel, metal was very seldom used as construction material in sculpture during the late fifties in South Africa. An exception is the stylized human "figure" which is part of Coert Steynberg's "Vrede van Vereeniging" monument of 1960 (Berman, 1968, fig. 19). Metal is used here not so much for its own formal possibilities, as for a kind of de­ materialised rendering by the repetition of the stylised pattern already superimposed on the realistic reclining granite figure. other sc~lptors still do modelling, or carve wood. Moses Kottler stylises realistic wooden figures such as "Knielende Bantoemeisie" (retrospective exhibition 1974, cat. no. 57) but he retains simplified, roughly textured realism in modelled work such as "Meisie met vlegsel" (exhibition 1978, cat. no. 25) (fig. 31). Thus also Sydney Kumal0 remained true to his own working method of carving and modelling animals and figures, e.g. "Black Leopard" (van Rensburg, 1970, ill. no. 71) in spite of the steel construction which he must have observed in the Villa studio from 1958 to 1960. Equally another black artist, Lucas Sithole continues making his expressively stylized wooden sculptures such as "Township Dance" (Haenggi, 1979, ill. p , 22) (fig. 9).

Edoardo Villa's non-figurative constructions are compositionally allied rather to the paintings and drawings of the previously mentioned members of the "Wits Group", although they differ in medium. For example there are striking resemblances with compositions of Nel Erasmus, such as "White still Life," 1960 (colI. H. Rupert Museum, cat. no 27) (fig. 10) and "still Life with Fruit", 1959. (Berman, 1970, p. 107) in which planes are grouped in a cirCUlar rhythm around a centre. This calls to mind Villa's strips of steel curved around an imaginary core, as in "Winter" (ill. 19). Similarities can also be observed in the tight grouping of forms as in "Counterpoint" by Douglas Portway, 1960, (Berman, 1975, p , 164) or in "VoiHberg" by Gordon Voster (Alexander, 1962, p. 114) in which rhythms of line and plane interlock over the picture plane (fig. 26). In "Fisherman's Catch" by a member of the Galeri.e. Independent, Sydney Goldblatt, 1960, (exhibition RAU, 1979, cat. no. 6) the stacking of forms call to mind the more organically piled SCUlptures by Villa, modelled for bronze, such as "Growing Form" (ill. 20).

Edoardo Villa had already moved away from conventional themes as regards SUbject matter in the earlier fifties, especially in the works constructed in steel. He then created sculpture rather as constructions in line and plane. The figure motif can only be recognised with difficulty in the sculptures which he created up to 1961 in steel strips and sheets. These can be seen to be derived from the figure when direct comparisons are made between e.g. the Iscor "Africa" (ill. 18) and the composition of forms of similar preceding sculptures, as the "figure with drapery" (ill. 15). Then it becomes noticeable that the smaller rectangular sheets at the top of the vertical spikes in "Africa" occupy positions similar to the small bronze heads of the "Figure with drapery" and to others

45 from the series. By comparison the theme of the group can also be deduced from the top pointed shapes in the "Africa", by comparing it to the heap of figures in the Zonderwater sculpture "La lotta per l'esistenza" (ill. 5).

The references to the human are particularly subtle. In these works the main import is the structure of the whole which is expressive of multiplicity, of unfolding and folding in about a core. In these sculptures Villa starts to express situations and relationships, and underlying connections rather than to render specific forms. Ramsden explains this development in twentieth century sculpture as follows: "in art appearance is dissolved in systems of internal structure, intuitively rendered by equivalent modes of notation" (1953, p , 35).

When the human figure as given realistic form disappears to a large extent in twentieth century art in favour of other formal motifs, the characteristic verticality of the human figure is maintained. Thus Villa was not isolated in the vertical characteristic which was to become increasingly typical of his compositions: verticality "is typical also of the works of Wotruba, Avramidis, Bourgeois, and Hoflehner (Read, 1964, fig's 219, 220, 221, 222 respectively).

Eventually the reference to the human image increases in Villa's work, particularly in the dense grouping of forms seen in works such as "African Chief" (colI. SANG, inv no. 65/34) (ill. 24). In this sculpture the grouping of forms about a hypothetical central axis similar to that of a human torso, becomes more noticeable.

with increasing frequency the references to Africa occur in the titles of Villa's sculpture. If indeed references to the landscape of Africa have been absorbed in these sculptures, these reference have been intuitively taken up by the formal means Villa employs, as these works developed from earlier modelled and constructed sculptures. It is unlikely that the forms constituting them were deliberately chosen to express visual characteristics of the landscape, as Villa showed no interest in landscape. Friends and acquaintances can reaffirm that he is inherently an urban being, for whom the most important is contact to his fellow-being, rather than the experience of landscape in itself. (He has, for example, not undertaken any "Tourist" travels through South Africa; travels overseas have been spent visiting family, friends, museums and art exhibitions.)

As the realisation in the twentieth century grew that form no longer needs to have a "translatable" content for it to be able to call up an essential image of life (Hammacher, 1969, p. 198) it is thus not impossible that the sculptures by Villa do indeed express indefinable, but nevertheless tangible characteristics of Africa within the types and composition of form.

Edoardo Villa created large - numbers of sculpture in which he himself sensed the African characteristics. He worked simultaneously in steel, and modelled in plasticene, a synthetic modelling material which made sharper contours possible than could be attained in clay, and which did not dry or crack as easily.

46 Villa does not develop his images in sketches on paper, but creates them directly in the three-dimensional material to allow his realizations to be expressed immediately through form. These realizations are tested in variations of form - thus series of apparently similar sculptures are created.

Langer (1967,'p. 387) describes the interrelationship of creating form and the expression of meaning as follows: "the artist's work is the making of the emotive symbol; this making involves varying degrees of craftsmanship, or technique .•• - he learns his craft as he needs it for his purpose, which is to create a virtual object that shall be an expressive form ...• every artist invents his technique, and develops his imagination as he does so" and on p. 389: "In creating an emotive symbol or work of art, the creator does articulate a vital import which he could not imagine apart from his expression, and consequently cannot know before he expresses it".

In working with the medium Villa's concepts gradually achieve clearer images. The continued development of the concept is unfolded or adapted in further sculptures until Villa feels that he has realized all the possibilities of that concept.

The motivation for the creation of series can be found also in a broader context, i.e. in the twentieth century view on life. In this view the concept of continuous becoming has taken over from the set, immovable system which had been increasingly considered to be the basic principle of all being since the Renaissance (Wagar, 1967, p. 4). The concept of becoming naturally had an effect on all aspects of life. It can be equally observed in art, in movements such as Impressionism, and Cubism where objects are broken up on the one hand into vibrations of light, and on the other in overlapping planes. Equally it can be observed at work in the natural sciences, where the universe, all matter, and all consciousness is seen as being dynamic, ,s being evolved in a process of continuous becoming. Hayes writes (1958, p. 521) "and 'matter' may no longer be thought of as something solid and permanent but rather as a form of motion or energy - 'a mere series of events' occurring in space-time". Dingle pointed out that Einstein's theory "showed .•• no sense in which we could say, as an independent fact of nature, that a body had any particular state of motion." (Wagar, 1967, p. 171) while Ramsden writes on sculpture: "There is a deepening conviction ... , that it is the modes of interconnectedness of things rather than the things themselves, the revolving curve rather than the completed figure, the process of "becoming" rather than the state of the "become" that is ultimately significant." (1953, p. 43 also p. 50). Thus the artist himself no longer sees his creations as isolated end products, but as phases in the continuous process of becoming aware. As Villa finishes every sculpture technically, each of these is accepted as a completed reality, so that the patron of art is not pressured into feeling the necessity to a acquire a whole series.

A more pragmatic reason for the creating of series has its roots in the physical process of creating as such. As Villa had, during

47 the mid-fifties, started working intuitively with the given materials by means of construction, he no longer worked towards abstraction by a process of reduction. The latter process mostly ends up in a single, specific product, the abstraction. This type of process can be observed clearly in a series done by Matisse from c. 1909 to 1929 while modelling the panels "Back I, II, III, IV" (Read, 1964, fig's 36 - 39). Matisse started off with the simplified realistic given forms of the back of a standing human figure with a long twist of hair down the nape of her neck. He systematically breaks these forms into planes in the subsequent panels, finally achieving synthesis in a few essential forms.

Villa's abstracting does not take place in quite such a logical sequence, and when he starts working in steel, he applies a reverse process. He in fact starts with strips of steel which he could join up in various ways within a vertical framework to create either geometric, or organic, or geometric-organic structures. This creative process remains the basic mode to all his further work, and partly explains how he could freely create both figurative and non-figurative works with the same formal means, whether they be strips, rods, parts of machines, and eventually pipes and angle bars.

None of Villa's series are however closed entities within his oeuvre, rather, a series could originate with a formal idea which crops up in a previous series. His sculpture could be described as self-generating, or, expressed differently, it is primarily the product of an artist who creates intuitively, and does not find the stimulus mainly from the world of sensory perception. The seed of possible future series is inherent within each series of works. Thus Villa's whole oeuvre can be seen as an organic process of becoming. Possibly he is himself aware of this, as he insists that more than one example of a series be shown on ret.rospective eXhibitions, as he feels that the series, rather than the single sculpture has to be read as a unit.

Because of this unity of the series it is often difficult to isolate a single sculpture for analysis. Thus the selection of a particular piece might often seem somewhat haphazard. As the formal characteristics of a series of four or six sculptures are so similar, anyone of these works from a series could be equally well analyzed in examining a whole series. Small shifts in emphasis can indeed occur within a series, as in the modelled works "Growing Form", 1957, (ill. 20) or "Vertical Form", 1958, (EV-Sc, fig. 16, coLl , Morgenstern) or "Rising form with bands" (colI's Herber, Roedean School) where the organic characteristics of the well­ rounded forms are dominant in the former work, becoming more geometric in the other two works, with taut planes and straight lines.

One series of four works has been collated by their titles, i.e. with the names of the seasons (e.g. "Winter" ill. 19, and "Impressions of Spring", 111. 21); others again, are recogr.ized as being part of a series according to composition and types of form, e.g. "Cathedral" (ill. 22) and "Atmosfera Africana" (ill. 24). Steel sculptures such as "Introspection" (colI. R. Duchen)

48 and the smaller "Africa" (colI. J.W.G; Cowper) are the precursors of a series reaching a climax in the large "Africa", 1960, (later placed at Iscor, fig. 18). Elements which were later to be drawn together in the "Africa" were the grouping of pointed steel strips as seen in "vertical Composition" (previously named "Introspection") (1958, co.LL, Duchen), and the more taut rectangular forms and the horizontal-vertical composition of "Construction" 1958, (eXhibition Sao Paolo, colI. M. Sack).

The vertical composition is the common visual characteristic of almost all the works of Villa during these five years. Only a few exceptions occur, i.e. the relief for the Carlton butchery (Ev-Sc, small fig. 11) which had to be made as an extended strip because of its intended position, and the more spherical composition of "Winter", 1961, (ill. 19). The vertical composition would remain the dominant compositional structure right through the sixties. In the next group to be discussed, it is also combined with the rigid frontality seen in the early work "Sorrow" (ill. 11). By "frontality" is meant the mounting of the figure in a work of art to show exactly to the front, which also implies that it should be viewed from the front.

Where the vertical characteristic becomes dominant in the SCUlptures around 1960, it is however not yet allied to frontality. On the contrary, these are some of the most all-round sculptures that Villa ever created. No primary view is indicated; the sculpture is completely developed and valid from any angle. This is applicable both to the modelled SCUlpture, e.g. "Growing Form" as well as to the steel constructions, e.g. "Africa".

As Villa now finally worked with steel sheets, it is natural that plane would become the dominant visual quality of the vertical constructions. The plane is mainly geometric by nature because of the smooth texture of the produced material, and the straight cuts with which Villa shap~s it. Plane su~sequently becomes more organically expressive when he bends it and starts folding it around a hypothetical core.

Initially the surrounding of a core by rhythmically successive strips was open as in "Africa", then the addition of strips becomes even more dense around the core. With increasing lines, planes and shadows, the work as a whole gains "texture", even though the metal units are themselves smooth.

The planes expand to become organic masses in the SCUlptures of this period. These masses still show their origins in the formal language of metal by the sharp edges and bands which define them e.g. in "Rising form with bands", 1959 (cL EV-Sc, fig 16). Here Villa achieves a fine balance between the organic fullness of the piled masses, and the geometric elements of line and plane with Which he contrasts them. In a way he combines the visual elements of two techniques, i.e. modelling and construction.

The alternation of techniques observed here for the first time, would be adopted in future by Villa. He often creates modelled and constructed sculptures on the same structure, thus the various

49 techniques are reciprocally stimulating to his formal language. Sometimes it is difficult to determine which technique preceded the other, whether it be the modelled or the constructed, part~cularly as the dates on many of the works do not always correspond. (Watter dates "Rising form with banda" as in 1959, elsewhere it is dated 1960, i.e. in the year in which the bronze cast was completed.)

The more organic piling up of forms seen in "Rising form with bands" and "Growing form" results in the modelling of heaps of more geometric forms, which are often referred to as being "Cubist". Although not many such examples are available, these works nevertheless merit discussion, both because of the reference, as being Cubist, and because these are some of the few non­ figurative works done by Villa. One such sculpture was traced and included in the VILLA '80 retrospective; "Pregnant form" 1961 (colI Sennett) (ill. 23). Others are known from reproductions: "Massive form" (Ev-Sc, fig. 26, colI. in the USA). Lola Watter shows a similar type, the relief "Detail of bronze door, African Life Building" as early as 1959 (1967, fig. 14).

Cubism originated amongst painters of the first decade of the twentieth century who wanted to approach the creation of landscape, figure and still-life by referring to geometric forms such as the cube, the prism, and the pyramid (McGraw Hill, 1958, IV, p. 150). In painting, therefore, the object was reduced to cubes and prisms for the purpose of breaking down or dissolving the separation between the object and its surroundings as separate given values, so that the whole picture plane would be changed into a complex, dominant rhythm (McGraw Hill, 1958, p. 151).

As Villa's modelled stacks do seem to tend towards the cube and the sphere, as in "Pregnant form" (ill. 23), they could be referred to as "being Cubistic to a certain degree". The problem of transposing frum the visual methods of expression of one medium (painting) to those of another (sculpture) crop up here. The same approach as a result achieves the opposite in the different media (McGraw Hill, 1958, p. 156). .

Instead of opening up the form and dissolving it into the surrounding space, this tendency to using the basic geometric forms in sculpture rather leads to dense masses of material which occupy a clearly defined position in space (McGraw Hill, 1958, p. 156). Such is the case as well with Villa, where plane does in fact articulate form, but the form retains its unity as volume with mass. He was not alone as sculptor achieving this result; in McGraw Hill (1958, p. 156) attention is drawn to the reliefs of Laurens, Lipchitz and Archipenko as being close to the problematics of painting, and thus in fact the only sculptural works which could in the true sense of the word be denoted as being "Cubistic".

SUMMARY

During the late fifties, up to the start of the next decade Edoardo Villa consolidated the development of his art since the post-war years. He had in time moved away from depicting conventional themes, and mastered another technique and creative process, that

50 27

24

25 26 of metal construction in a new medium, steel. Thus he could create mainly non-figurative compositions based on intuitive structures.

Villa found a balance between geometric and organic formal elements by the combination of forms derived from various media, continuously applied within the vertical composition of framework. This framework would serve as the base for the construction of more figurative sculptures during the following period, in which not solely the vertical, but also frontality would be emphasized, investing his work with a certain totem-like character.

GROUP VII: 1961 - 1967

During the sixties the emphasis subsequently shifted from the generalized sUbjects such as an allegory on a season, to the more archetypal, in which i.a. images of concepts such as Africa would be seen.

The sculptures which were created during the mid-sixties, i.e. 1961 to about 1967, are considered to fall in Group VII. Although delicate shifts in emphasis can be discerned, the most important reason for grouping Villa I s sculpture in this period is the prevalent common characteristic of vertical composition based on the human structure, as distinct from the preceding steel constructions which were of a more generally geometric nature.

The small differences existing within this group, which however do not warrant separate groupings, could be observed as four phases: firstly the thin metal strips with which Villa initially works and to which other forms are gradually added; then the modelled variations on the steel shapes, which were probably adapted for the purpose of architectural commissions; thirdly the figurative constructions are created with heavy metal ~nits; and fourthly more simplified, but still mechanical constructions were created in which colour plays a role.

The four stages in this group follow naturally on one another, as shall be seen in the formal analysis. It seems unlikely that the changes occurring in the sequence could be linked to Villa's regular visits abroad. He in fact visited Italy in 1960, in 1962, and again in 1964 to attend the Venice Biennale. Nevertheless sudden changes are not to be seen in his sculpture during those years. (Although his work was also sent to Sao Paolo in 1963 (Berman, 1970, p. 262) he never visited South America.)

The verticality which had manifested itself increasingly in the previous group, is also the common characteristic of this group, and was more strongly linked to the human structure during the mid-sixties. Allied to this was sYmmetry and frontality, also characteristics of human build (Weyl, 1952, p. 7).

The sculpture "African Cl1ief" (1963, colI. SANG, inv no. 65(34, cat. 1970) (ill. 24) still retains characteristics of the previous group in its all-round development and in an almost architectural combination of strips encompassing a core. The dense grouping of forms in the upper half probably led to the work being seen as a

51

L torso, hence being entered in the Cape Town inventory as "African Chief". Originally, however, it was titled "Atmosfera Africana" in the catalogue of the 32nd Venetian Biennale (20.6 1964 18.10.1964, no. 115), thus rather on the level of "Winter", etc. The date 1963 which has been ascribed to it, is very possibly erroneous, as the series of "Heraldic Figures" (ill's. 25, 26) in which clear references to human anatomy is already to be found, was created as early as 1962. The "Heraldic Figures" basically look the same as the forerunners "Atmosfera Africana" and "Cathedral" (ill's. 24,22) with similarities in vertical composition, and by similar proportions, seen in the primary concentration of forms in the upper half. The forms have however been assembled along completely different guidelines: in the preceding works Villa was concerned with diagonal, curved strips of metal which freely floated around a core, but in the "Heraldic Figures" the metal strips, bands and circular sheets of metal are much more densely interwoven around the vertical axis, in stricter vertical and horisontal frameworks. Anatomical references such as breast and head, are increasingly to be found in these compositions. The unbroken flow of views around the sculpture is now separated into two "main views", as can be seen in the "front" and "back view' of one "Heraldic Figure" (ill's. 25, 26). "Front" and "back" are however relative terms, as either of the views are occasionally described as "front view". As a result of the marked difference between these views, a single sculpture has in the past been identified as two different works, when only photographic material was stUdied (e.g. the "Heraldic Figures" which are identified by L. Watter, 1967, fig. 19 as "Fetish"). By the planar nature of these works, it follows that a similar formal idiom could be applied effectively as a planar composition; thus various reliefs are also produced during this period, such as "Relief" and "Machine Ballet" (EV-Sc, fig. 21), to mention only a few. During 1963 the strips were increasingly replaced by oval metal plates of a shield form. with these Villa constructed further vertical structures with subtle references to the human framework, e.g. "African Queen" (colI. Goodman) or "Medieval Figut:e" (colI. M. Weavind-Stephens). The indications of head, breasts, or stomach . with tied umbilical cord which can be seen in these two examples, are even more pronounced in the "African Virgin" (ill. 28) where other anatomical detail, such as shoulders and feet are prominent. The human anatomy emerges out of armour or clothing until it is interpreted in terms of machine parts in the third stage of this group of works. It is subsequently reduced to the even greater simplicity of skull, spinal cord and pelvis in the coloured "figures" (ill. 27). In the interim Villa had however gone through a period of modelling. Here the adaptation of the formal language of steel elements to the modelling and casting technique can be observed particularly well by comparing the detail of a column for an arcade

52 12 8 in Pretoria with the "Heraldic Figure" (ill. 26) in steel, or even more specifically in a comparison of the steel "African Virgin" (ill. 28) with the modelled bronze "Mapogga Woman" (ill. 29) for which it could have served as a maquette. (Comparison to Alexis Preller's paintings on the same theme, could prove interesting.)

Where the forms on the column are still all defined by sharp planes, which recall metal rather than modelled forms, the "Mapogga Woman" already shows increasingly organic, smooth transitions, full rounded forms, and a slightly rougher texture than the metal constructions. Compositionally the sculpture is, however, based on its small predecessor, the "African Virgin" with the necessary adaptation demanded by different techniques. Particularly noticeable is the similarity in the composition of the head, a small sphere on a narrow cone; the shoulders as a slice out of a sphere, the breasts as half spheres arranged on a plane, and the navel as a small prominent sphere (as is often the case with rural black people). The indication of the pelvis as a sickle moon in the steel sculpture is more apposite, as the moon was the attribute of the virgin Diana and the lunar goddess Luna, who were worshipped as identical in Roman times.

The head of the "Mapogga Woman" in itself appears to have been a satisfying and adaptable composition for Villa, as he sUbsequently modelled a number of variations on it, increasing the organic type of forms as contrasted with the geometrically sharp planes. An example is the "African Head" (ill. 30). Just as the "Heraldic Figures" do, these sculptures heads also show two completely different views, as if Villa did not wish to leave any dead, uninteresting "back".

Alternation between techniques, however, resulted in reciprocal influencing. Not only do the steel shapes influence the formal language of the modelled works, but also vic~ versa. After this phase of modelling, Villa commenced building more solid machine parts into his constructions of the third phase of Group VII. The simplified forms which he had created by the necessary adaptation to the modelling technique, apparently led to his reducing the number of various forms in the steel sculptures as well. He then chose more massive steel pieces for his constructions, thereby achieving a different kind of expressiveness, which was vested less in gesture, and more in mass.

Thus in the third phase of this group mainly massive machine parts are used which evoke partly anatomical references, and partly armour. The vertical composition is still maintained, being sYmmetrical, and based on the human structure, whether it be the torso, e.g. "African Guardian" (ill. 31) or the head, e v q , "African Head" (ill. 30).

It is noticeable that Villa's output increased markedly during the mid-sixties. This is partly due to the direct medium of steel construction which he had made his own, by which the extensive processes of casting were eliminated, but also partly due to the increasing assistance which he received from Lucas Lagode, the assistant whom he employed since 1964. The assistance of this

53 capable black man meant that he could tackle much larger works than he would have been able to execute on his own, and that he could also complete far more sculptures by being released from mechanical repetitive work. As a result he could realise his ideas faster, thus following up on, and creating further possibilities and variations. The abovementioned sculptures must therefore be seen as serving only as examples of more extensive series. various head sculptures were created following on the modelled bronze sculptures, such as "African Head" (colI. Skotnes), "Crusader" (colI. E. Guenther), "Astronaut II" (colI. D.F. van Blerk), "Head" (colI. A. Goodman) and "Head" (colI. L. Givon) to mention but a few. Of the torsos the following are known, La. "Medieval Figure" (colI. G. Duys), "Totem 2" (colI. in the USA), "Athlete" (colI. M. Herman) , and "Ambassador" (colI. G. Beck). In the fourth phase which can be discerned within Group VII, are the increasingly simplified "figures" of 1966 and 1967, where the essential verticality is reduced to the pipe, which can suggest body or spine. In some cases anatomical references are particularly evident e.g. the male sexual organ in "Orange Sculpture" (colI. A. Goodman, ill. 27) and the woman's breasts in "Red Sculpture" (colI. A. Goodman). Particularly noticeable on these "figures" is the bright primary colour in which they have been painted, as can also be deduced from the titles. The previous figures were partially rusty, (being made from offcuts) and Villa painted them a dull blue and black to protect them against further rusting. The choice of colour in those cases had, however, accentuated the characteristic weight, and sometimes brutality of the metal. David Smith, (1906 - 1965) the American sculptor who had elevated steel into being a special art medium, described these as qualities of the "medium with little art history" (Smith, 1968 p.54). When Villa, however, paints the sculptures in the last phase of this group in light orange, red, ochre and a soft green, he is using'the colour primarily to bind the various forms. This function of colour is pointed out by Tim Scott, who calls it "enveloping" (177 (907), 1969, p.22). Over and above that, colour according to Scott, also has descriptive and expressive values, Lighter colours have the connotation of also "being lighter". The light tones which Villa then applied to these "figures" to a large extent negated the weight and mass qf the metal of which the sculptures consisted. Modern paint is so glossy, and was applied so evenly by Villa and his a~sistant, that a similarity to plastic is even implied. This could - be observed particularly at the VILLA '76 and VILLA '80 exhibitions, where visitors often touched the sculptures in an effort to correlate their visual impression of the material. Thus, by using colour, a further dialogue between opposites in the sculpture of Edoardo Villa resulted (Watter, 1967, unnumbered p.). Most of the sculptures in this series are eventually painted black

54 (cf. "Figure", on loan to the RAU sculpture garden), and it thus appears that colour was still an isolated phenomenon in Villa's oeuvre. This might be related to the degree of figurative work, which was still prevalent. Later works which were to have "permanent" colour were in fact almost all non-figurative (cf. "orange Involvement" ill. 53). The role of colour in SCUlpture will be more closely examined further on when Villa's work of the mid-seventies is discussed, as colour then had become a more inherent quality of the SCUlpture. Amongst other South African SCUlptors steel as a medium of construction is little used, nor is the brightness of synthetic colours as used by Villa, to be found. They apparently continue, to a greater or lesser extent, with abstraction in traditional materials. Elza Dziomba (1906 - 1970) created a deliberate abstract piling of wedge forms in a formal language which was somewhat foreign to her work in "Design of Spirit" (Graaf-Reinett, Hester Rupert Museum, cat. no. 25) (fig. 11). Zoltan Borbereki (1907 ­ ) carves a few planes and incises some stylized lines on a piece of willow wood for his representation of a "Pondo Woman" (Durban Art Museum, inv no. 1425, acquired 1963). Bruce Arnott (1938 - ), one of the younger developing sculptors, preserves a delicate balance between the given realistic facts i.e. a man with a French hat, and the geometric volumes of sphere and column, in which it has been modelled and cast in "ciment fondu" (Cape Town, SANG, inv no 64/33, cat. 1970) (fig. 12); opposed to this geometricising formal method is found the organic, animistically modelled SCUlptures of Sydney Kumalo (1935 - ): "Head", "Dancing Woman" and "Leopard" are cast in bronze, but probably formally derived from sculptures carved in wood (van Rensburg, 1970, figs. 74, 80, 76) (fig. 13). Kumalo applies stylisation in an increasingly decorative way: the conscious stylisation is emphasized by the various textures which are applied to the single forms in "Leopard". Here texture is understood as a separ"lte "skin", which is applied independently of the actual forming process and the expressiveness linked to that. Where SCUlptors in South Africa were still working in wood and bronze, this was certainly not the case in Western SCUlpture in general where steel and iron were the preferred media during the sixties. In particular the availability of steel and iron, and the faster method of construction which eliminated extensive and expensive casting methods, probably contributed to this preference (Read, 1964, p. 241). A large variety of approaches can be seen in the use of metal as construction material, ranging from the neat, meChanical finish of the "useless machines" of Eduardo Paolozzi on the one hand, (Read, 1964, figs. 272, 273) to the other extreme of the crushed motorcar sections of Caesar's "Relief" (Read, 1964, ~ig. 336). Against all these variations of handling and composition an Which the brutal aspect of rough material in particular, as well as aSYmmetry and the emotional are emphasized, appear the ordered, symmetrical, often figurative structures of Villa, as products of ? completely different world view having the human as centre, and 1n Which an organic cohesion and a rational order are expressed. Thus the human had returned to Villa' sculpture in the sixties,

55 after a tendency to non-figurative constructions had manifested itself in the late fifties. In fact the human being never completely disappears from Villa's oeuvre, even when references to it are very subtle and covert, as it would again be in the mid­ seventies (e.g. in the pipe structures).

Edoardo Villa's preservation of the human, both as theme and as formal structure is usually attributed to his training in the milieu of the Humanist attitude in Italian culture (Berman, in EV­ SC, p. 18). Humanism is an ideology which attaches the greatest importance to the human and to human values. This is often seen as the central theme of the Renaissance (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1973, p , 199), but probably more subtle factors are at work determining Villa's choice, i.e. in the universal relationship of the human to representations of himself.

In spite of development during the twentieth century of other possibilities of order, of other powers, of other processes and relationships in the natural and human sciences, man is still searching to express his experience of being - searching for the concrete expression of these experiences - in structures similar to his own internal image (Clark, 19856, p. 537, and Butler, 1975, p. 282 : lithe need to make our own image has been too central in the development of human consciousness to be completely abandoned. ") The deep-seated necessity to reproduce a concrete representation of his image of man, is expressed for example in the legend of Pygmalion (Clark, 1955, p , Ill). Being conscious of countless possible variations open to man in the twentieth century, the sculptor of the present has several possibilities for creating the concrete image: he is continually being confronted with the task of more or less recreating the "first human" anew (Trier, 1961, p. 59). At intervals, whenever Villa becomes aware of other experiences of reality, he takes the structure of the.human which everyone intuitively senses, as basis on which he applies other forms and combinations so to be able to express the new awareness-

That Villa's concentration on the human was due in part to his Humanist background, could also be supported by i.a. a comparison to the Italian sculptor Marino Marini (1901 - ). During the intense clashes which occurred during the fifties between supporters of figurative and abstract art, Marini said that he himself as a person from the Mediterranean area could express himself freely only in the human image (Trier, 1971, p. 135). other Italian sculptors who refer to the human image as he does, include ia Giacomo Manzu (1908 - ), Emilio Greco (1913 - ), Alberto Viani (1906 - ), and Luciano Minguzzi (1911 -) (Read, 1964, figs. 249, 250, 195, 186). Nevertheless there are several other Italians who work completely in the non-figurative idiom, such as Aldo Pomodoro (1926 - ), Pietro Cascella, (1921 - ), and Lorenzo Guerrini (1914 ) (Read, 1964, figs. 192, 193). Villa's place of birth and education were therefore not the only factors leading to his involvement in the human figure, although it was most certainly a contributing factor.

'l'ile human figure which makes a reappearance in this work during the early sixties, is once again the armoured figure as seen in

56 "Heraldic Figure" (fig. 25). Now, however, it is no longer a realistic figure enclosed in geometric armour, but figure and armour are inseparable. Where a specific historical person was represented in Villa I s early relief "Colleoni", the impersonal, faceless figure representing a type, now appears. The armour is thus no loner an attribute of the represented figure, but is integral to the type. Also, it is not so much the archetype of the hero, the soldier of the pre-war period, which is meant, but that of the messenger, the one who makes state proclamations known, who transmits messages between prince, who awards heraldic costume, thus playing a more decorative role in the hierarchy (Concise Oxford Dictionary, 1975). Probably these rather decorative patterns (especially seen in the reliefs mounted" on wood, e.g. "Relief", 1962, ill. 32) which Villa created in these delicate figures during the early sixties, led to the identification and apposite title of the sUbject.

The "Big Mother" archetype appears when the steel sculpture is replaced by the massive volumes of a modelled sculpture, as in the "Mapogga Woman" (ill. 29). In spite of the virginal attribute of the sickle moon, this is indeed a presentation of the Earth Mother of all, with wide, solid hips and the prominent spheres of breasts.

Some anatomical forms are increasingly to be seen evolving as part of the armour or clothing, as can be seen in "African Virgin" (ill. 28). As Villa gradually uses fewer different types, and less of the heavier machine parts, the external, enclosing armour disappears, Rather the structure of the body then becomes more clearly visible in SCUlptures such as "Athlete" (ill. 33) or "Homage to Maillol" (Ev-Sc, fig. 47). In the "Athlete" for example, the shoulders and hips are indicated by half spheres or spherical discs, and the navel is accentuated to become an important central focus of the composition by the use of various forms such as a gear, rods and spikes. In the "Homage to Maillol" the appearance of vertebrae and ribs, depicted by elementary machine parts, is particularly noticeable.

The coloured figures of the fourth phase of Group VII can almost be seen as references to the nude figure, where the armour has fallen away, in spite of mechanical formal elements still being the construction material. The combination of forms is less complicated, and the similarity to the physical build of the human being is clearer, as can be seen in the eyes, shoulders, hips, and "even sexual organs of e.g. "Orange Sculpture" (ill. 27). The latter part of the body is an integral part of this SCUlpture, by its geometric forms and its placing within a tightly arranged symmetrical composition. Thus it does not in the first instance evoke the erotic, the erotic being that which implies sexual love. It serves rather as identification of the sex of the figure, and is as inevitably part of the sculpture as are the sexual organs in African sculpture, where it is first and foremost symbolic of fertility and growth, (Arnold, 1981, pp. 57, 58, 42, 77) and serves a practical purpose in initiation ceremonies, or in sexual teaching. That for Villa the sculptures belong to one or the other sex can be deduced by his referring to them as female or male (e.g. "Boy" and "Girl") even when no recognizable anatomical forms are

57 32

34 35 incorporated. (It is interesting that in the Italian language no neuter exists - all nouns are either masculine or feminine).

In such works of Edoardo Villa a synthesis is achieved between the human being and the machine - the human is machine, the machine is human. Other examples of this type are "Head", Astronaut", and "African Guardian" (ill's. 35, 34, 33). In these Villa created the successors of Epstein's "Rock Drill" (Read, 1964, fig. 158). Jacob Epstein (1880 - 1959) had started with the human anatomy and had stylized and abstracted it to machine-like forms - Villa however had started with forms from the machine, and by using these in his compositions, had returned to a human structure. He thus not only makes a comparison with the machine as Epstein does in a certain sense, but accepts the machine as a medium which could attest to a changed attitude to technology. This aspect will be further elaborated again in the discussion of the meaning of the works.

According to the titles of the sculptures of the sixties, many of them were not seen only as generalized presentations of the human figure, but were somehow related to man in Africa. For example the names are: "Seated African" (Watter, 1967, fig. 22), "Masai Girl" (EV-Sc, fig. 36), - also named elsewhere "Musician"; "African Virgin" (ill. 28), "African Queen" (Jeppe, 1964, fig. on p. 30), "Mapogga Woman" (ill. 29), "African Head" (EV-Sc, figs 55, 56) and "African Guardian" (ill. 31). On the other hand sculptures of the same type of construction with mechanical formal elements have names such as : "Heraldic Figure" (ill. 25), "Medieval Figure" (Watter, 1967, fig. 23), "Totem" (EV-Sc, fig. 65, 55, only one of several), "Rising Form", "Medieval Figure" (watter, 1966, fig. 26), "Crusader" (Watter, 1966, fig on p , 30), "Astronaut" (ill. 34), "Athlete" (ill. 33), "Ambassador" (Ev-Sc, figs. 45, 46) and later, more generally "Red Sculpture" and "Orange Sculpture" (ill. 27). Indeed many of these titles could be exchangeable: "Heraldic Figure" could equally be a "Zulu Warrior". Nevertheless there must have been some deep-lying reasons for giving African-related names to so many of the sculptures done in the sixties.

During the sixties in Europe there was in fact a great interest in all cultural aspects of Africa after de-colonisation had run its course. It is noteworthy that a very large number of publications on Africa appeared during the sixties, as can be seen from the bibliography of a study by A.J. Werth (1973, UP), as well as in Arnold, MI, 1981, p. 169, ff). The gallery owner and art dealer Egon Guenther grouped 5 artist together, including Villa, under the name "Amadlozi", as he felt that their work expressed something of Africa. He then exhibited their work in 1963 to 1964 in Italy, in Rome, Florence, Milan and Venice.

Not only Egon Guenther felt that something of Africa could be sensed in the.sculpture of Villa. Also F. McEwen (Werth, 1973, p. 152) was of the opinion that Villa had derived his symbols, even more, the whole spiritual content of his art, from "classical" African art. The question which thus arises, is to what extent Villa knew this art.

Although the nomadic black nations of Souther Africa mainly made

58 utensils to which some decoration was applied, and created few independent figurative works of art, (Grossert, 1958, pp. 63 ­ 138) the sculpture of West and Central Africa was well known to Villa. He in fact often had the opportunity of seeing large private collections brought together by his friends in Johannesburg, for example that of vittorino Meneghelli, who had settled in Johannesburg in the early fifties, and of Egon Guenther, who had already previously come to South Africa. (A large part of the Meneghelli collection has been included in the Standard Bank collection, housed at the University of the Witwatersrand. See: exhibition catalogue, 1979, "African Tribal Art Exhibition".)

On comparing his work with theirs, it appears that visual characteristics similar to those of the sculpture of Central Africa do occur in the work of Edoardo Villa in this period. Firstly, the most obvious is the sYmmetry and frontality in the attitude of the figure. Since the Greek Kouros put one foot in front of the other for the first time in c. 400 BC and started the shifting of weight and axes which was to culminate in Baroque swirling, these qualities in particular were seldom found in Western sculpture. They do actually appear in Gothic sculpture, in a period when religion and hierarchy determined the nature of society. Not only were single figures depicted symmetrically and frontally (e.g. the "Apostle Andreas" Baumgart, 1966, fig. 50) but whole compositions were symmetrically based (e.g. "Vezelay: Tympanon", Baumgart, 1966, fig. 33).

Symmetry (sym-metros) is the reciprocal relationship of parts of an entity as regards size and position; it is also relative measurement and arrangement of parts; and, proportion. Symmetry also is: the required or correct proportion; the harmony of parts to one another and to the whole; the suitable regular or balanced arrangement and relationship of the parts of elements.• Geometric symmetry indicates the precise correlation in position of various points or parts of a figure or body with reference to a dividing line, plane, or point; the arrangement of all the parts on a system in pairs (or sets) so that those of each pair (or set) occur equidistant on the opposite sides of such a line, plane or point. When symmetry is further referred to, geometric symmetry is meant. The word is thus used in this study in this generally accepted meaning.

Symmetry serves as formal guide, but has more than only visual meanlng. Therefore there are different reasons for its value in various periods of art. One of the most general reasons is probably that it is an idea according to which man in mythical times tried to understand and order the multi-faceted world around him, and strove to achieve perfection (cf. van Peursen, 1976, p. 36). The basic formal composition of creation can be seen as sYmmetrical by nature, and the artist tries to recreate this in his own formal process. The structure of the human body is itself symmetrical, and stimulates him to symmetrical representation (Weyl, 1952, p. 7). To observe the geometric sYmmetry of the body, it must, however, be seen straight form the front (of the back): thus sYmmetry is also often associated with a frontal positioning of the viewer. Weyl (1952, p. 16) points out that the symmetrical, frontal view

59 is the preferred method when man tried to depict any symbols (whether they be in three- or two-dimensional representations) of God, Christ, the Greatest Being, or hallowed ancestors. When the seriousness of a depiction is being accentuated, compositions too tend to geometric symmetry (e.g. "Tympanon, Vezelay cathedral", Baumgart, 1966, fig. 33). Hofmann shows such indications in his analysis of symmetry in the work of Antoine Pevsner, twentieth century sculptor: " .•. die Konstruktion ist um eine beherrschende vertikale Mittelachse angeordnet, ihr Betrachter wird zum frontalen Gegenuber aUfgefordert. Das ist ein Wesenszug, der sich in vielen Verzweigungen in Pevsners spateren Lebenswerk nachweisen lasst: axiale Entsprechungen, bevorzugtes Gestaltungsmittel j eder Symbolkunst, geben den Kostruktionen die Unnahbarkeit von Idolen Die rechnen mit einen gebannte Beschauer. Bannung - das bedeutet Festlegung eines unverruckbaren Standpunktes der allein die Wahrnehmung der Symmetrie e rmoqLi.cht;v " (Hofmann, 1958, p , 131). Thus a figure which is mainly symmetrical at one and the same time, forces the viewer to take a specific position in relation to the figure, and yet it remains unapproachable. Symmetrical figures are in a sense isolated, thus are more difficult to place in a relationship within a group, unless this is again within a symmetrical arrangement on a two-dimensional plane.

During the sixties the sculpture of Edoardo Villa is mainly symmetrical, subtle deviations enlivening the composition; these works often become like icons, or are called symbolical (e.g. Watter, 1966, "Symbolic Sculpture of Edoardo Villa", Lantern, pp. 25-34). In this way they not only show visual similarities to the symmetry and frontality of African art, but also a similarity in being symbols.

A further common visual characteristic of the sculpture of West Africa and that of Villa can be seen in the three-dimensional nature of each formal element within the composition. This contrasts with much of Western sculpture, where forms were often developed from various two-dimensional views. Werth (1973, pp. 101 - 102) quotes from "Vision and Design" by R. Fry: "All archaic sculpture Greek and Romanesque for instance approaches plasticity form the point of view of bas-reliefs. The statue bears traces of having been conceived as the combination of front, back and side bas-reliefs. And this continues to make itself felt almost until the final development of the tradition."

In Villa's work, the three-dimensional nature which is expressed by fullness of form, and the recognition of geometric volumes, the sphere, cube, and column, is due partly to the choice of the solid, metal elements which he adopts, and partly, to the manner in which he modelled each volume, as full and massive, each clearly limited and defined. In Villa's case this delimitation is primarily the result of the "assemblage" technique. In a continuous striving to stylisation, the black sculptor finishes his forms exactly and smoothly, as each form has to be identifiable - every detail carries iconographic meaning (Werth, 1973, pp. 57, 63; Skawran, in EV-Sc, p . 25).

As regards the structure of the human figure, a comparison between

60 the work of Villa and the sculpture of the black man show up differences and similarities. The main difference is the proportion of head to body. The black artist devotes particular attention to the head and face. The head is indeed the seat of spiritual power (cf Arnold, 1981, p. 77). According to him the head and body in particular are the seat of life power, and is thus depicted as the most important and largest of elements (Schneckenberger, 1972, p. 32). This can be observed at symbolic dances, where the mask with its accentuated features reveals the identity of the represented spirit or power and achieves a large measure of expression, while the body of the dance is often encased in a formless covering of skins or grass (Fraser, 1962, fig. 19, 25). In the sculpture of Africa, the whole figure is usually unnaturally short, only 3 to 4 headlenghts, as compared to the normal 6 1/2. Often the legs are short and stumpy, or almost invisible, folded back in a kneeling position (African Tribal Exhibition, 1979, exhib. cat., figs.) (fig. 14). In contrast to this, Villa adopts the twentieth century approach to the body, where the head is depicted as being very small, and often without any features. This is typical in particular of Henry Moore (Read, 1965, Reclining figures, figs. 102, 103, 106, 11, 218, and later torsos, figs. 232, 233) but also of Giacometti and Armitage (Read, 1964, fig. 146, and Armitage, figs. 254, 255, 256). Villa does create a few exceptions, where the head is elaborated as the most important structure, e.g. "African Guardian" (ill. 31). The depiction of the head as small element is a result of the presentation of the human torso, which, since Michelangelo's studies, was increasingly considered to be an expressive unit in itself. In the twentieth century the torso was considered more suitable for abstraction than the full figure would be - as the rendering of only part of the human figure, is in effect already a kind of abstraction (cf Ellen, 1974, pp. 78, 79).

In this respect Edoardo Villa's figure sculptures do indeed appear to have similarities with the shortened figures of African sculpture, i.e. in the proportions of his torso-compositions in which the legs are only indicated. A further important visual characteristic of both the work of Villa and of the black man of Central Africa, is the enclosed nature of the composition as a whole. This characteristic is called "intention" by Armstrong, as a contrast to "extension" (Armstrong, 1971, pp. 72 - 75). In spite of the greater number of components which make up the sculptures, they are densely grouped around a hypothetical core, so that they appear to be held together by a centripetal power. (Centripetal being that which tends towards a central point, opposite to the centrifugal, which tends to move away from the centre: Concise Oxford Dictionary). When compared to the art of Africa the "intention" which is observed in the art of Villa during the sixties is indeed not confined to this period alone, but is an important quality of Villa's whole oeuvre. It is also a quality of sculptures otherwise as widely differing as "Growing Form" (ill. 20) and "Orange Involvement" (ill. 78). In the light of the above mentioned visual and thematic similarities in the sculpture of Edoardo Villa of the sixties,

61 with that of the black man of central Africa in particular, it does not appear strange that an African connotation is attached to Villa's work, and that Egon Guenther included Villa amongst the group "Amadlozi" (Le. the spirit of the ancestors). The other artists (included by Guenther) are Guiseppe Cattaneo (1926 - ), Sydney Kumalo (1935 - ), Cecily Sash (1925 - ), and Cecil Skotnes (1926 -) (Exhibition catalogue "Amadlozi", 1963-4). Two of these artists, villa and Cattaneo, were of Italian origin, one was of Scandinavian descent, i.e. Skotnes. Only two of them were South Africans, the white woman Sash, and a black man, Kumalo. It would thus appear the "foreigners" from Europe strove more consciously towards rendering the essence of their new environment.

An art critic wrote that Villa derived more than the usual characteristics from the art of Africa. Frank McEwen (Werth, 1973, p , 152) was of the opinion that Villa derived his symbols, or rather the whole spiritual content of his art, from that of the "classical" art of Africa: the masculine virility of Villa's work, its tension and strength, the mystery and simplicity - all these, McEwen felt, could be traced back to the art of Africa. It would appear that McEwen did not know Villa's earlier works, for he then would have been aware that many of these qualities occurred at an early stage of Villa's oeuvre. McEwen must have compared only the work of the sixties with African art, to have reached such a conclusion.

Probably the real similarity of the sculpture of the black man with that of Villa is to be found on a completely different level to that of limited visual and thematic qualities. As professor Skawran remarks, he took over visual forms without "any deeper involvement with their anthropological and cosmological feeling." (EV-Sc, p , 25).

The black man tried to abjure and tame those powers which were incomprehensible and fearful to him, in his u:-.itary mythical world, by creating sculptures of his ancestors, and of evil and good spirits, and by representations of fertility. Possibly this is what Edoardo Villa was attempting to do in a world in which myths exist too, a world in which technology and industry are not always understood or grasped, and are thus viewed as the fearful unknown, " ... when a technical world like ours, which is cut off from all its psychic and natural roots, fills the whole horizon of consciousness, then the unitary world shows a terrifying dewonic, and archaic force, and proves to be full of tremendous powers ­ divine or devilish - of which our godless world of consciousness knows nothing." (Neumann, 1959, p , 45) Therefore Villa creates humanoid representation with machine parts, to embody the "spirit of the machine" and to abjure it, thus relieving the fear of it. As has been previously pointed out, the human became machine, but the machine also human: "By bending technology towards artistic ends we establish a distance and a beauty that puts technology back into human control and purges it of its invisible demons that hypnotize and thwart us through levels of influence below our awareness and therefore beyond our control. " (Fong, 1969, p. 6 quotes Perrault).

62 Thus the sculptures that Villa created during the mid-sixties were symbols with complex frameworks of reference and meaning. On the one hand these sculptures served as concretisation of a representation of Africa in the mental world of the white man because of their visual similarities, on the other hand they are an attempt at coming to terms with the myth of technology.

Another theme of the sixties which again appeared only twenty years later is the head. As did other western sculptors, Villa broke away also in this respect from the head sculpture as portrait, i.e. as the depiction of a specific person in visually recognizable forms. THis change had occurred early in the twentieth century with works such as those of Brancusi (Read, 1964, figs. 80, 81) and of Antoine Pevsner (1886-1962) (Read, 1964, fig. 99: Portrait of Marcel Duchamp, 1962) in which abstraction has converted the human head to geometric volumes or frameworks of planes. The change towards the more general, and towards abstraction was concomitant with the changed attitude of the twentieth century, namely that sculptural qualities, i.e. volume,. mass, size, plane, and texture should convey the meaning of the sculpture. As regards meaning the emphasis had shifted from the ontological, the accentuation of the individual, to the functional, the accentuation of relationships (van Peursen, 1976, p. 80).

During the early forties Villa had done many portrait commissions in the Zonderwater pow camp, as for example that of Major Murray, (EV-Sc, small fig. 1) two children's portraits (in "Tra i Reticolati") and the portrait of the Hon. J.H. Hofmeyer (Watter, 1967, fig. 1a). No details of later portraits or head-studies are available. Almost twenty years later Villa created a series of modelled heads in the style of the large bronze "Mapogga Woman" (ill. 29). Possibly a stage in the technical process, i.e. cutting up the Plaster of Paris sculpture in sections suitable for bronze casting, had led Villa to realize that such a head could function as an independent unit, and as a result, he sUbsequently modelled a series of them.

After this Villa created a series of "head sculptures" with the same type of machine parts with which he had constructed numerous torsos. In this he seemed to approximate to Henry Moore's "Helmet Heads" (Read, 1965, fig. 158, 1950). Moore had already carved simplified "Masks" in 1929 (Read, 1965, figs. 48, 49) inspired by American Indian examples. In 1937 -40 Moore created a composition in bronze, "The Helmet" (Read, 1965, fig. 105) in which the duality internal - external plays the determining role. Although the steel head sculptures of Villa also have connotations of a head within a helmet, it becomes a synthesis of human and mask in an enclosed composition in his works. Moore's helmet with internal being is metamorphosed into an image of anguish and fear (Read, 1965, p. 158), especially in the "Helmet Head" of 1950, as well as in the "Atom Piece" (Read, 1965, figs. 237, 238) in which the human skull and the mushroom of an atomic explosion become as one.

The fact that the twentieth century sculptor found expressive power in the head sculpture or mask in spite of the swing away from portraiture, can be partly attributed to a renewed interest in folk

63 art and in the so-called "primitive mask" which is powerfully expressive (Ellen, 1974, p. 49, and : Schneckenberger, 1972, p. 32). Edoardo Villa could see numerous such African masks in the collections of his Johannesburg friends, and could strive for similar expressiveness.

SUMMARY

During the mid-sixties Villa had primarily created vertical structures more closely based on the human framework. Although the figures he made showed more anatomical detail, they also had a strongly "armoured" appearance, and in their frontality and symmetry, could be seen as archetypal images, recalling concepts such as the Hero and the Earth Mother. Linked to the renewed interest in Europe in African culture, and with Villa's sculpture showing resemblances to West African woodcarving, it followed that many of his works were linked to African themes.

The reciprocal influence of the two techniques modelling and construction on one another could be seen clearly in this group, where modelled shapes have clear metallic edges, and the machine parts chosen for sUbsequent steel sculptures are heavier, massive shapes allied to the voluminous bronzes that preceded them.

Colour appeared briefly, used to pUll a unifying "skin" over the machine parts of a certain group, but was not yet an integral element of Villa I s formal vocabulary. The Head as carrier of symbolic meaning also appeared for a certain period, before Villa was to follow on it with his "playful giants".

GROUP VIII: 1968 - 1970

Large mass and simplicity of form had tended to be more manifest towards the close of the previous period, becoming the primary formal characteristic by the end of the decadL. In fact all detail is eliminated, stripping the sculpture to a core as a structure of column, sphere, and cube. with these elements Villa builds another series of vertical figures up to three meters tall, but then as well, more reclining and seated figures. The horizontal position in particular is typical of this group of works. Though the reclining or seated figure does occasionally occur at other times in his oeuvre, it never does in such large numbers as in the late sixties only to reappear again twenty years later.

In their composition of column, sphere, and cube, these steel sculptures emanate self-confidence, a robust air, and even playfulness. "vertical" (ill. 36) stretches with supreme assurance to its full 3,5 metres height. "Horizontal V" (ill. 37) on its back, playfully swings its legs in the air - both being constructed with modified full-round spheres or sections of spheres, straight columns, and high angular cubes. Seen against the background of the period in which these sculptures were created, it would appear that they express a self-confidence which was typical of Villa's life as well as that of South African society in general. During the late sixties in South Africa the economy was flourishing - this was reflected i.a. by the highest stock exchange prices which had been

64 3 7

36

39

38 experienced to date (report: Johannesburg stock Exchange, 1970). For the Afrikaans-speaking community, which was increasingly claiming its share of this economic boom (de Villiers, ed 1976, p. 60), it led to the realization of a long-standing dream: the foundation of an Afrikaans-speaking university on the Reef (Keesing's 1968, p. 22939).

The late sixties also brought much success and increasing confidence to Edoardo Villa. A monograph written on his work by Lola Watter, appeared in 1967. In 1968 he exhibited a large number of sculptures on the open spaces around the then Schlesinger building. The booming economy also had an even more direct influence on him: this meant larger commissions and more sales. ("Vertical" bought by the Pretoria Art Museum, a "Horizontal" by the University of the witwatersrand, a "Vertical" by the Schlesinger organisation; another "vertical" bought by a Johannesburg firm, etc.). Greater financial independence meant that he could have a house for him and his wife designed and built by and architect. His success furthermore reached a peak with a retrospective exhibition of a decade of his work in 1970 in the Pretoria Art Museum and at the Johannesburg Art Gallery and in their adjacent parks.

Being financially secure, it became possible for Villa to be freed from a dependence on steel offcuts for his material. He could order prefabricated metal units, such as the spherical end-pipes of high­ pressure stearn kettles, or have sheets bent to specific column sizes in a factory which produced industrial steel units. with such geometrical given forms he could further evolve the process of simplifying his formal language, which had been continuing up to 1967. Then also, casting large bronze sculptures came within his reach.

Initially the simplified formal language was still applied to the same vertical structure which had been typical of the sixties, and in 1968 Villa created three large "vertical" pieces (e.g. ill. 36). As regards composition, they could still have been included with the previous Group VII, but as regards formal language they belong with the works of the late sixties. Villa then created a series of five reclining figures "Horizontal I" to "Horizontal V" (ill. 37), with the same geometric formal means.

A further step is the even greater simplification leading to a form of torso which consists of only four pieces: body, head, legs (ill. 39). These torsos have a triangular pyramidal composition, which made it possible to arrange them in groups. Thus it naturally fOllowed to group single seated figures such as that of the Liberty Life Building (ill. 39) in two's en threes. Possibly the bronze technique itself contributed to this development, as four or five casts are usually made of each sculpture, with which Villa could t~en have experimented freely (ill. 40). Technique alone probably d~d not give rise to this. Villa's intense involvement with a particular person, as opposed to his lifestyle during the previous decade, which was filled with a large circle of acquaintances, could have stimulated this different concept.

65

A further characteristic of Villa's work during the late sixties is the greater number of works modelled for casting in bronze. Also important is that both the modelled and steel sculptures are to a much greater extent based on the same types of form than had been the case in previous periods. Differences reside only in the shifts of balance between the organic and geometric aspects which result from the use of the varied media. In this period in particular it is difficult to determine which sculptures preceded which, whether it be the bronze or the steel, because they are so closely related. The series like "Vertical Movement I" (ill. 38) is for example comparable to the vertical male torso and the column, but become almost plantlike in the subtle transition between forms and the type of "growing" forms like swelling buds. The SCUlptures would have had to be dated by the month, to establish their exact sequence.

Just as is the case with the vertical sculptures, the horizontal reclining figures too have their equivalents in bronze. The best­ known of these is the reclining bronze torso in the Hyde Park shopping centre (ill. 37) which has been "turned over" so that the Playfully swinging legs of the steel sculpture become the solid supporting legs of the bronze SCUlptures. Very little of the mechanical character of the steel scUlpture with its round "pivots" of the hips, for example, can still be discerned in the bronze SCUlptures. The underlying volumes are, however, still geometric. Sharp edges defining certain forms in the bronze SCUlpture are a reminder of the formal derivation from metal, and by their geometric quality, serve as formal means of balancing the softer organic swelling of the massive forms. Thus Villa maintained the delicate balance between geometric and organic elements; this is in marked contrast to work such as "Pondo Woman" by Borbereki, Where the crystalline V-shapes of stylized drapery negate the organic nature of the wood in which it has been carved (colI. Standard Bank, Johannesburg).

The derivation of forms for the large bronze SCUlptures "Group 1" ~nd "Group II" (fig. 42), for which various maquettes exist (ia ln the collection of the Pretoria Art Museum) from steel predecessors is very clear. Although they are modelled, the forms, split sections of spheres, and short columns which make up the torsos are clearly assembled and defined with sharp edges. Allied to this geometric formal language, a controlled, almost smooth texture is maintained. Only a muted patina is rubbed into the bronze. The expressiveness of textural contrast is not involved here, as is done in the SCUlptures of Louis Le Seuer (e. g . "Vrouekop", colI. Pretoria Art Museum 1969).

In other groups, e.g. "Group" (ill. 40) the forms are softer, and Show more similarities with the organic "Reclining Figure" of Hyde Park. The small half-spheres, indications of breasts, are a reminder of their probable derivation from metal predecessors.

~Ubsequently, Villa apparently applies forms which he had developed ln bronze sculptures, on the steel works. This is particularly noticeable in the large steel torso, the "Seated Figure" (ill. 39) at the Life Building. Here we find the "cuts" in the columnar forms

66 which he normally rather applied to large works where he wanted a geometric plane as opposing element to organically rounded forms.

In the group sculpture's of the late sixties there is thus a continuing shifting in emphasis between the organic and the geometric aspects, and both these are important in either media, whether steel or bronze.

Another two apparently opposing elements, i.e. mass and movement (or gesture) are balanced in these sculptures. The sculptures of the late sixties had shown an increasing tendency to massive forms: larger and simpler volumes which suggested great weight and mass were created particularly in 1968 -69. They can be described as monumental. In the general sense of the word "monumental" is that which serves to commemorate; in particular, as structure, or as building (Concise Oxford Dictionary). Although monumentality as such is generally associated with large size, in sculpture it is not solely dependent on largeness. Also a smaller work can be made monumental in concept. Henry Moore states it thus: "There is a scale not to do with actual physical size, its measurement in feet and inches - but connected with vision." (Chipp, 1968, p. 596) but he adds: "but actual physical size has an emotional meaning. We relate everything to our own size, and our emotional response to size is controlled by the fact that men on the average are between five and six feet high." Although coupled to monumentality, .large size alone is not ipso facto monumental, unless it has been created with a vision of monumentality.

Probably the connotation of permanence is part of the quality of monumentality, as a monument should exist for as long as possible to fulfill its function of memorial. The robust, fully rounded masses of Villa's works in the late sixties have connotations of permanence and timelessness, and contain no suggestion of decay, such as is for example emphasized in the sculptures of Germaine Richier (1904 - 1959), who used bronze in a very individual way to create symbols of impermanence (Hofmann, 1958, p. 77).

Edoardo Villa is fully aware of the emotive value which can be derived from large physical size, and that a specific expressiveness gains in intensity with size. He increasingly aims to create 3 to 4 metre high sculptures, and considers smaller works to be maquettes, or stages in the development of the large final work. It must be mentioned here that the enlargement is not mindlessly executed by mechanical means: each sculpture is in turt a creation with many changes, in fact based on its smaller predecessor, but recreated with the artist's creative involvement to function successfully also on a larger scale (observations and remarks, 1979 - 1982).

It may be mentioned here that one of the best photographers of Villa's work Egon Guenther, took most of his photographs by tilting the camera up towards the sculpture, which created the impression that the sculpture was towering above the viewer, giving it a further dimension of monumentality (cf figs. 48, 53, and 63 in EV -Sc). When the piece of sculpture itself is then seen, the actual scale sometimes comes as a surprize, as e.g. "Group" which is only

67 28 centimeters high (ill. 40).

By creating massive, monumental steel sculptures Villa exceeded what was expected of a constructed metal sculpture. As established by Gonzales (1876 1942), the twentieth century view of characteristics of iron sculpture was that line and plane would be the most important formal elements - line as interlaced rods or a framework; plane as interlocking metal sheets (Hofmann, 1958, p. 157: "Ihre vornehmlichste Gestaltungselemente sind die Linie (das Draht-geflecht oder Gerust) und die Flache (die verschrankung van Metall-Platten) "). On the contrary, Villa combines parts of high­ pressure boilers and enormous pipes to create massive enclosed volumes, thus attaining an expressiveness in steel more closely allied to the organic fullness of modelled forms ("Horizontal 4" ill. 37; "vertical", ill. 36, "Seated Figure", ill. 39). Lippy Lipshitz (1903-1980) was a South African sculptor who created a few steel elements for a short period, but it apparently fell outside his development, and he soon relinquished this type of work (Arnott, 1966, cat. no. 416 : "Two-in-one").

The formal differences aside, there are also other tendencies in twentieth century art of which Villa does not at first sight appear aware in these works. The tendencies which had been manifested (Ramsden, 1953, p. 35), are i.a. : that the image is broken up as a result of the growing awareness of the dynamic powers at work within matter; that the internal aspect of phenomena replaces the external, and that form is seen as a diagram of powers, instead of as a circumscribed unit. Allied to this a system of relationships instead of specific form is advocated.

Villa maintains the unity of the images in his sculptures although they may be simplified, and the external aspects of phenomena remain recognizable. He also retains the integrity of specific form, in the masses of clearly defined units w~ich constitute his works. From this it does not follow that no trace of twentieth century tendencies occurs in his work. The very manner in which he handles the large, massive volumes and sets them up against one another, or lets them flow together ("Horizontal 4 " ill. 37; "Vertical Movement" ill. 38) renders visible the dynamic powers that pulse from within the forms. Working with large volumes does not in itself imply that energy has been combined with mass. Without the relevant application of formal language or concomitant concept, large volumes can be heavy and big but devoid of dynamic energy, as a comparison with the work of a contemporary of Henry Moore shows. "Mother and Child" 1946, by Frank Dobson (Newton, 1947, fig. 17) consists of bulky forms closely grouped, achieving a certain crystalline quality by the slight flattening of certain areas. But this work has none of the forceful energy which emanated from Villa's compositions of sphere, column, and cube. In the work of the young South African sculptor Geoffrey Armstrong (1945 -) massive forms are similarly carved from Clipsham stone, expressing an earthy massiveness rather than dynamic energy (Lantern, 1971, XXI, (1), fig. p . 27) (fig. 15).

In contrast Villa succeeds in expressing tension and movement (a controlled gesture) in his monumental works of this period in spite

68 of large, massive forms. A sliding movement is expressed, particularly where the forms are reduced to only a few elements in the various steel torsos (e.g. "Torso" 1969, 70, ill. 43). In this Villa has apparently succeeded in combining the opposites of mass (the being) and gesture or movement (the becoming).

The type of enclosed, by nature independent, forms which Villa employs probably make it very difficult to effect a system of relationships (a particular aim of the art of the twentieth century, resulting from changed attitude to life). Two factors however do facilitate the creation of group sculptures in which such relationships could be observed: firstly tihe : previously mentioned pyramidal composition of the seated torso (contrary to the stable, enclosed rectangular framework with which most of the vertical and horizontal "figures" are composed) and secondly the departure from geometric symmetry, also an isolating factor, which had dominated the compositions of the mid-sixties.

Initially grouping occurred primarily in the bronze sculptures, probably as a result of repetition made possible by the casting process ("Group I, II" and "Group" ill's. 40, 42). The rendering of relationships which Villa created in this way, reside to a certain extent in the similarity and repetition of the same formal combinations, which are used almost as modules, but is mainly inherent in the thematic, i.e. the situation of copUlation. The formal language is in itself not expressive of the underlying tension which is inherent in the relationship. Only in sUbsequent works done during the early sixties where the forms are less massive and enclosed, would it really become possible specifically to express systems of relationships.

Villa I S work of the late sixties has a certain simplicity, a mechanical quality and a monumentality in common with Reductivist and Minimal sculpture. Possibly these two movements in' sculpture during the sixties could have played a role in Villa's development in this direction. These two movements are closely allied, yet they differ (Marschall, 1979, pp. 31, 33). The former movement steadily reduced (as the name indicates), and originated from the quest for the minimum of elements which would be necessary for a sculpture still to have sculptural quality. Although the Minimalist sculptors also worked with strongly reduced elements, their aims were somewhat different. They strove to create industrial, depersonalized works, by having their sculptures carried out in factories according to their plans. In both these movements bright colour was applied to the forms: the Minimalists sometimes also used light sources.

Villa's work showed increasing formal similarities to that of the Minimalists, but in other respects, in particular the thematic, it differed radically. Form itself is the theme of the non­ figurative sculpture of the Reductivists and Minimalists. For Villa (as for South Africans such as Armstrong, Borbereki, Lippy Lipshitz, to mention but a few), the human being remains the theme of sculpture. Admittedly a more generalized content had become immanent in Villa's work of the late sixties, in its simplification and reduction of form. with less complex and descriptive formal

69 detail the torsos became more universally expressive of human situations and experiences.

The titles of the sculptures as well reflect this shift in emphasis: "Africa" disappears as adjective, while more references is made to the visual formal character than to a literary meaning, in names such as "vertical", "Vertical Movement", "Horizontal" etc. This does not imply that Villa no longer expresses any of his consciousness of Africa, but that it transpires more sUbtly. Formal characteristics of Villa's sculpture in Group VIII, in fact maintain resemblances to the art of the black man, particularly in clearly defined formal units and the convex forms which still centre tightly around a core in spite of suggested movement. But Villa's work can be seen as being more covertly expressive of Africa as a general phenomenon. Thrusting growth, inherent in nature, is expressed on the one hand in grouping, and on the other in the vertical reaching up of the forms in "Vertical Movement" (ill. 38) or the latent power of the unexploited natural as well as human resources of the continent speaks through the robust forms of both the steel and the huge bronze sculptures of the late sixties ("Reclining Figure", Hyde Park. fig. 41).

Apart from the meaning discussed above, the seated and reclining torsos in particular have a playfulness and sensuality. "Sensual" being that which relates solely to the senses, and not to the intellectual or spiritual (Oxford English Dictionary, 1961). Sometimes Villa's sculptures In this group, especially those grouped in positions reminding of the sexual act, ("Group III", ill. 42) are described as being erotic. (Skawran, Afrox exhibition catalogue, 1976, opp. plate 4). "Sexual" is that which relates to sex, or the sexes, and with sexual intercourse, while "erotic" refers to sexual love (Oxford English Dictionary, 1961).

With its strong emphasis on the massive, fully rounded form, and with the earthy connotation that such forms have, Villa's sculptures are indeed sensual. When a group sculpture with such sensual forms is created which furthermore refer to sexual intercourse, it is to be expected that an erotic connotation could also be seen. The underlying geometric quality of the playfully interlaced and stacked bronze torsos is the controlling principle which sublimates the expression of the erotic. As Kenneth Clarke says "the amount of erotic content which a work of art can hold in solution is very high." (Clark, 1056, p . 4). Clark is of the opninion that any nude figure (which is in fact what Villa's torsos are in this case), however much abstracted, should evoke a shadow of erotic feeling in the viewer. If this is not the case, it is bad art, and false moral values (Clark, 1956, pp. 4-5). This shadow of erotic feeling could be found not only in Villa's paired groups but equally in single figures such as "standing Figure IV", a torso similar to "vertical Movement I" in which the female sexual organs in particular, and the organic modelling are erotically suggestive. As opposite principle to the expression of female eroticism, male virility could be observed in sculptures such as "vertical" (ill. 36) •

Thus Villa no longer created sculptures with a conventional meaning

70 which refers to the Earth Mother or the Young Hero. The archetypal concepts in his work rather become universal meanings inherent in the formal language. '

SUMMARY

During the three years at the end of the sixties Edoardo Villa broke away from the tight vertical composition which had been typical of the previous works for most of the decade, and he applied a greater amount of variation to the horizonal composition. A complex formal vocabulary ceded to simple form derived from basic geometric forms: sphere, column, and cube. These were organically composed, based on the concept of the human torso, be it standing, seated or reclining. The human torso became a design module which could be placed in many varied positions, and which led to the first group sculptures being created after almost twenty years.

Africa no longer serves as a conventional meaning; rather universal attitudes and situations are rendered in a more generalized formal language. Nevertheless Villa reflects certain inherent qualities of the continent and its art in the very forms he uses.

The process of simplication of form and complication of composition was to be continued during the seventies, with a formal language setting the new work aside from that done in the sixties, and with a meaning which would increasingly refer to relationships.

SUMMARY CHAPTER 2

Edoardo Villa went through definite developments both as regards form and meaning during the eleven years 1958 to 1970, which were reviewed in this chapter. On the one hand changes took place formally in the use of various media: the use of iron, then steel combined with modelling, then only steel for several years, and finally freely alternating steel construction and clay modelling. The alternation had a reciprocally enriching effect on the various formal modes, with which in time a very fine balance between geometric and organic elements is achieved. On the other hand the changes in composition on the formal level is far more gradual, and the vertical structure is maintained for the greater part of the period under discussion. This changed during the latter three years to more pyramidal or horizontal compositions. Geometric symmetry was a formal (as well as meaningful) framework which asserted itself very strongly during the mid-sixties, only to disappear towards the end of the decade.

These formal elements and the changes they underwent were closely related to the meaning of the images and its changes, as examined in the above discussions of three groups of works. Firstly abstract sculptures in which Villa expressed the functional nature of the twentieth century to a certain degree, were intuitively created. Secondly, the human structure supplied archetypes, then more generalized types, so that a change from a mythical expression is gradually made to a more ontological one. Thirdly certain general types are created, still within the ontological viewpoint, but with other formal elements. The emphasis then shifts to the more mobile,

71 the more asymmetric qualities, by which grouping becomes more readily possible.

After Edoardo Villa had progressed through all these developments, he was free to apply any of these in the following decade and build on them, having as he did, the base of a healthy state of finances, of technical expertise, of greater emotional security, and of a greater involvement in his new country.

72 CHAPTER 3

1971 - 1979

During the period 1971 to 1979 Edoardo Villa continued simplifying form to the most elementary of signs - a curved plane, and angled line. By limiting himself to such basic elements, Villa created sculpture which to an ever greater extent expressed the twentieth century view of the importance of relationships. According to Ramsden, (1953, p. 35) the emphasis placed on relationships within sculpture can be recognized in the rendering of the internal aspects of phenomena, in the concept of form as a diagram of powers, and in the expression of systems and relationships.

Where relationships are primarily being expressed in sculpture, the form tends to become "sign" rather than "symbol". Villa's formal units SUbsequently become units of a formal language which are manipulated within different frames of reference. These he can use as needed to express various meanings. Nevertheless Villa maintains human references in his structures, as if he would like to render the meaning more easily compreh~nsible, without negating the interplay of relationships. When shifts in emphasis between conventional meaning (human figure) and the contents (the group context) occur during the seventies, many chan~es take place as well in the relationships between form and meaning.

GROUP IX: 1971 - 1974

As is usual with him, Edoardo Villa explored all the possibilities of a specific formal combination in series of works. (cf. the series of four "Horizontals" and three "Verticals" of the late sixties, ill's 37, 36). During the early part of the next decade, this was concomitant with increasing dematerialization of the large volume and mass seen in the sculptures of the previous group (at the end of the sixties). At first the volume is reduced to slivers, (or: foils), then to single sheets. Villa created series of four to five group compositions with each- type of form (e.g. "Group", ill. 45). Probably his almost exclusive use of steel during the early seventies contributed to this process of "dematerialization", applicable both to composition and to finish.

He in fact reverts to the vertical compositional framework of the steel sculptures which had been typical of the major part of the sixties, in contrast to the large variation of possible ?ositions in which he almost playfully grouped the bronze torso modules. The vertical composition is however conceived rather as an open framework, and no longer as an enclosed column, with which symmetry and frontality had previously been- associated (cf. "African Virgin", ill. 28). These open structures therefore do not imp0se a particular viewpoint, and can function from any angle. Where horizontal positions occur, they are enclosed within the cubic framework of a rectangle, as jr the vertical framework had been swung through ninety degrees to the new position. Thus Villa created "dematerialized" groups within these open frameworks.

72 As regards finish, the new steel plates which Villa used were naturally smooth as a result of being industrially produced. Steel is an alloy, i.e. a manmade product fashioned from various materials, thus not a "natural" medium. David Smith was of the opinion that it was a "medium without an art history" and thus could be associated primarily with the present century (Smith, 1968, p. 54). In this case Villa accentuates the shiny characteristics of the metal, by polishing even such large pieces as "Tri-Form" (ill. 44) more than four metres tall. This shiny surface actually contributed to the "dematerialisation" of the form: noticeable texture makes the surface of an object or of a sculpture more "visible" (it can also in extreme cases camouflage poor form), which is thus more "physically present". The precise position of a shiny surface is however, not easy to determine optically (as pilots landing on water can vouch for); thus, shiny forms are visually more elusive, and appear less physical (less material, less massive). Villa's South African colleague, Johan van Heerden, apparently strives as well- to intensify the non-earthy, the crystalline forms of this sculpture in the middle seventies by adopting shiny surfaces; for this purpose he works in stainless steel (Metalart, 1977, exhibition catalogue, Johan van Heerden, guest artist; central page with 9 illustrations).

Many of Villa's large sculptures constructed in spindle forms, such as "Tri-Form" or "Conversation" were, however, eventually painted black for technical reasons such as rust; also the problem of finding a suitable varnish which would protect the surface without detracting from the shine. Earlier photographs of these works (EV-Sc, ill. 87) reveal that they had in fact been brightly polished, just like the whole "Cubi" series of David Smith (1906 - 1965) (Arnason, 1978, ill. 1042).

Apart from technical and compositional reasons for the tendency towards "dematerialization" of his sculpture, Edoardo Villa probably was increasingly tending towards the attitudes of "Minimalist" or "Reductivist" sculptors, as was indicated briefly in the previous chapter. Possibly the curved sheets of Robert Murray's "Breaker" at the Venice Biennale in 1969 had made an impression on Villa (exhibition cat. 1969 no. 55). Possibly the approach of the above mentioned sculptors were further stressed When Villa visited Italy in 1972, where he saw such works. In the catalogue of the Venice Biennale which he brought back with him that year, a considerable number of examples of "Minimalist" sculpture is reproduced: sheet constructions by Anthony Caro, massive creations by Fritz Wotruba, and a composition of pipes "ascesa diagonale" by Spagnuolo (exhibition catalogue, Venice Biennale, 1972, figs. 202, 224, 22).

Villa's sculpture however differs from that of the "Minimalist" sculptors in two respects. On the one hand he remains very closely involved with the production and the finishing of the sculpture to the final size. The "Minimalist" sculptors had their works executed industrially on purpose according to their plans or models, thus aiming at accentuating the fact that the sculpture is primarily an

73 45 object (Arnason, 1978, pp. 651 - 658). In his personal handling of the material Villa is closer to David Smith, who occasionally too made "Minimalist" or "Reductivist" type sculptures, but who was always personally involved in the production (Arnason, 1978, fig. 1042) .

The other respect in which Villa differs from the sculptors in steel during the sixties and seventies, is his retention of the human figure, however subtly. Younger South Africans for example mostly worked non-figuratively, as did Ian Redelinghuys ("Flingle Wet", bought in 1978 by the Durban Art Museum, inv. no. 1896) (fig. 19) and Mike Edwards ("Dunbar" exhibited RAU, 1979, cat. no. 20). The typical forms are indeed sometimes very covertly suggested in Villa I s work. Often the sculpture consists only of a vertical spindle, closed off at the top by a horizontal shape which could be read as "head" (ill. 44). The emphasis here is placed rather on the relationships between people, which Villa wants to express by these "ideograms" in the vertical compositions. Various combinations of this type of composition occur: closely placed elements within an enclosing circle, as in "Tri-Form" (ill 44); or elements placed in opposition, e.g. "Vertical Movement I" (ill 46).

The unity which is achieved in these compositions largely depends on the rhythmic alternation of curved and parallel lines or planes. As volume and mass diminished in Villa's work during the early seventies, it follows that line and plane gained in importance, thus becoming the primary expressive formal elements. Apparently the vertical quality of the line is intensified by grouping several lines, Le. parallel arrangements became an important compositional characteristic of the work done in this period, as can be seen in the series of "Groups" (ill 45).

Another method of achieving unity, apart from parallel grouping, is the rhythmic combination of curved planes, thus rendering line and plane expressive, as can be se~n in particular in "Environmental SCUlpture" (ill. 47) or in "Interlocking Forms" (ill. 48).

Where the traditional expressive means in SCUlpture, i.e. mass, diminishes, scale will play an increasing role; therefore it is not unexpected that the size of these works increases. "Tri-Form" (Which was placed in front of the IGI building in Johannesburg in 1981) is 4 metres high, i.e. three times man-size. The composition of sheets, "Vertical Movement" is even taller, Le. 4,5 metres. As regards scale, Villa is to a certain extent approaching the "Primary Structure SCUlptors" (as some of the "Minimalists" are called) by building increasingly larger constructions. A sculptor like Tony Smith (1912 -) for example, makes six metre high plywood models intended for execution in steel, which fill whole architectural spaces (Arnason, 1978, fig. 1176)

Edoardo Villa achieves a subtle balance between the given geometric character of the curved lines and planes which contribute the foil­ shapes ("Untitled", ill. 49). The organic quality of Villa's forms are particularly noticeable when compared to the geometric use of given steel elements as used by the south-African Ian Redelinghuys

74 ("Vortex", on loan to the RAU Sculpture Garden, fig. 24). To relieve the harshness of a single vertical plane or foil, the foil is slightly narrowed, as in "untitled" (ill. 49), or a change in direction is indicated by a kind of "cut" into the sheet. Such cuts are seen particularly in the series such as "Group", (ill. 45). Further contrast to the stiff sheet is given by more organically curved tubular shapes, which are placed as horizontal endings to the primarily vertical composition of the same "Group".

An increase in gesture and movement could have been expected in these more de-materialized compositions. As postulated earlier, volume and mass in sculpture was often allied to the expression of existence, of being, (that which lasts, which is eternal) while open frameworks and looser formal structures more often were conducive to expressing the becoming. Nevertheless Edoardo Villa still controlled the expression of gesture, in spite of the more open framework and linear formal character. Physical gesture is not depicted; rather, the action takes place in the relationships between the sculptural images in their parallel or opposite positions ("Vertical Movement I", ill. 46), or between the formal elements in their interlocking, overlapping, rhythmical "movements" ("Interlocking Forms", ill. 48).

Where Villa then "cuts" into the vertical forms, a snapping movement is suggested, as in "Group" (ill. 46). Gesture is to a certain extent made visible by the latent tension of forms that could possibly fall. Close observation of the more complex compositions of curved sheets reveals a new concept of the module. During the late sixties Villa for example used the torso as modular unit; now, he adopted a formal compositional unit as module. In each adapted use of such a unit, the module undergoes a change in meaning, whereas the torso as module was always a torso, in whatever position or context it may have been. A good example of the new module, the formal compositional unit, is the one used singly, as the "Seated Figure" (ill. 50). Sometimes it is doubled for a composition of two "figures" (EV-Sc, ill's 91, 100). It is on occasion also turned to a horizontal position, doubled, and with only one additional angle, composed to become the "Interlocking Forms" (ill. 48), in which the module can be recognized only by very careful analysis. Thus a particular formal device does not always have the same meaning for Villa, but acquires various possible meanings within each context in which it occurs. In this respect, too, Villa's formal compositions had become a formal language, which could be used as needed.

The most important theme in Villa's oeuvre of the whole decade of the seventies is the group. This theme had almost completely disappeared after 1952 (still recognizable in the early iron sculpture "Assailants" ill. 16), until it reappeared again in the late sixties. The only exception could be "Afrika", 1960 (ill. 18) and the maquettes for it, in~hich subtle reference is made to the group. Then in the late sixties the group sculpture appeared as a "game" in compositions of similar torso modules (cf. ill. 40).

75 During the seventies however, Villa conceived the group as integrated unit. In particular, the units in the group of the vertical compositions were increasirigly placed in specific relationships to one another. "Tri-Form" (ill. 44), is for example, arranged in a circle, and attached to a round steel disc. At first glance it would appear that the disc serves primarily as a practical element, to keep the vertical elements in an upright position. When this disc is however masked by covering tiles when the sculpture is placed at the IGI building, the importance of the circular shape for the visual and thematic unity of the sculpture becomes clear. (ill. 44). The two slender vertical foils of "Conversation II" (EV-Sc, fig. 87) are placed on a single half­ sphere. Double sheet figures such as "Vertical Movement I" remain standing without a base, by the connection of the sheets forming the two figures, simultaneously expressing the group-cohesion. (ill. 46)

On the other hand, the units of horizontal compositions remain separate, next to one another; however, in "Interlocking Forms" (ill. 48) they do overlap to such an extent that it is not immediately seen that the sculptural group consists of two separate units.

Villa does not approach the 'phenomenon "group" as one type of situation. He depicts various group cohesion within his formal groupings. The three elements of "Tri-Form" (ill. 44) for example are turned toward one another, and can be seen as trinity, closed to the outside, perfect in its encapsulated unity. This becomes even clearer when comparing it to another group consisting of three elements, Le. the work "Three Standing Figures" by Henry Moore (Read, 1965, fig. 145). Moore's figures are standing in conversation with one another, but the group is not closed. Two of the figures have their attention directed outwards, although their attitude and position place them within the group. A twofold relationship is expressed in this composition: t.ne relation between the three standing figures, and simultaneously a link to the surroundings or with other individuals who could be drawn into the group. Villa's group, however, is enclosed and complete in itself, apparently not affected by anything in the vicinity.

A completely different group relationship is expressed in the smaller group sculptures of three or five vertical elements which are placed parallel ("Group" ill. 45). Here the group bond is not evident in the concentration on one another as in the enclosed "Tri-Form", but rather in a unified front presented outwards by the group of similar parallel units. They are like a row of Soldiers, or "soldiers of faith" as they are seen on the portals of Gothic cathedrals: as parallel vertical units, they constitute part of the framework of the church. Just as the holy figures of Chartres, so too are the "figures" of Villa dematerialized - they do not stand there as individual, physical persons, but as signs of a more encompassing whole (Gardner, 1975, fig. 10-14).

Two other possible relationships are expressed in Villa's group sculptures which consist of two "figures". The first indicates the couple which is completely involved in itself, and thus cut off

76 from its surroundings. The male-female relationship is expressed here on the emotional level, as for example protector-protected ("Vertical Movement" ill. 46), in contrast with the more sensual and even sexual coupled groups of the late sixties (ill. 42). Secondly, the couple next to one another have grown to become a unity, and can then again direct their attention outward ("Conversation II", EV-Sc, fig. 87). This type of couple has a hieratic quality: thus we find such pairs mainly depicted as royal couples, e.g. in the Egyptian enthroned figures, (Michalowski, 1969 "Amenhotep III" and "Queen Tij, fig. 368), or, in the twentieth century, in Henry Moore's "King and Queen" of 1952. - 53 (Read, 1965, figs. 174 - 177). This sculpture couple by Moore is created in spite of the realistic detail of the hands of both figures, as de-materialized, slender, bonelike forms, contrasting with the massive organic forms.of most of his oeuvre. Thus the spiritual and hieratic aspects of exalted kingship are emphasized.

Villa abandons almost all human references in the horizontal sheet compositions. Maybe the reclining figure could still be discerned in these compositions. This is due to the inherent human urge to recognize aspects of himself in everything. Bowness (1965, p. 70) expressed it thus: "One '" has only to stick a pole in the ground for it to suggest a figure, so strong is our desire to relate any unfamiliar man-sized object to ourselves."

The relationship as such is however mainly expressed in the horizontal: the inter-relationship of curved lines and planes ("Interlocking Forms" ill. 48), or their relationship with the surroundings in which they could possibly move ("Environmental Sculpture", ill. 47).

Villa achieved a great simplicity of form by this continuing dimunition of formal elements. From the simplicity of f~rm he could draw a mUltiplicity of meaning; in this respect his work could be compared to that of Brancusi, of Whom Hofmann (1958, p. 89) said that he had validated the law that the simplest forms could express the most encompassing contents. ("An Brancusi's Anfangen bewahrheitet sich das Gesetz, dass die einfachste Formen die umfassendste Inhalte vermitteln".)

Simplification, stylisation or abstraction however also contain pitfalls, as the Reductivists were to discover: sometimes a sculpture did not succeed at all because simply too little sculpture has remained (Marshall, 1979, p. 33). Arnheim sees a danger in that the abstraction can degenerate to a scientific diagram. To avoid this, the work of art should, according to him, retain the sensory appeal of life (1954, p. 106). Here the balance between organic and geometric qualities again come to the fore.

Villa's awareness of the sensual qualities of his material, his predilection for organic rhythm, allied to subtle reference to the human structure, are the very elements which prevent his structures from having only unilateral-meanings, as would scientific diagrams. On the contrary, relationships (the inter-linking) are expressed, which had again become very much part of the awareness of twentieth-century man (cf. van Peursen, 1976, p. 89: he calls it

77 47

48 50

49 the "functional" view of life).

possibly Villa's group sculptures originated intuitively against the backdrop of changed circumstances in South Africa. The great economic boom of the sixties was dwindling; vague threats of the past became realities when the "buffer" between South Africa and the rest of Africa collapsed with the independence of Angola and Mozambique in 1975 (Alhadeff, 1976, Nov, p. 124). South Africans became increasingly aware that they had to present a united front: South Africa had to go to the assistance of South West Africa in aiding refugees from the Marxist regime in Angola, and to resist SWAPO attacks against South West (Alhadeff, 1976, March, p. 126). English-speaking South Africans had to throw off their isolation as "foreigners"; they were urged to review their position during a conference commemorating the arrival of the British Settlers in 1820. They themselves analyzed their identity, and some prominent speakers warned that they had to own up to sharing the responsibility for the present situation in South Africa (de Villiers, 1976, p. 218). During the conference it was also pointed out that the generalized political polarisation which had previously existed in the white population, was no longer possible: English-speaking people could no longer be simply seen as left­ liberal, equally Afrikaans people were not ipso facto right­ conservative (de Villiers, 1976, p. 12).

SUMMARY

The changes in the sculpture of Edoardo Villa during the early seventies had occurred both as regards form and meaning. Massive form had decreased in favour of line and plane. As a result of this shift in formal means, the expressiveness that Villa had often previously achieved by large mass, was SUbsequently achieved rather by structures suggesting controlled gesture.

The diagonal cut into the forms imparted a latent tension, which enlivened the otherwise severely vertical composition. Simultaneously the cut initiated a lengthy process of opening enclosed form which thus far had been characteristic of Villa's formal language.

Changes in form were concomitant with changes in meaning. Symbols, consisting of closed forms and compositions, gradually became signs, being rather open structures and dematerialized form. These elements facilitated the expression of systems of relationships (Ramsden, 1953, p. 35).

Edoardo Villa continued creating structures by the use of basic formal elements in his work of the mid-seventies, by adopting the pipe. The most important theme is still the group. colour, which had for a short period during the sixties been a feature of Villa's formal means, subsequently became a more integral part of form. The vertical compositions were still dominant, although certain combinations of the vertical with the horizontal do occur.

78 GROUP X: 1974 - 1977

As is so often the case in the sculpture of Edoardo Villa, the germ of a following group is already present in the previous works. The pipe, which was to become so typical of this period of the mid­ seventies, was already to be seen as a detail of the sheet and foil compositions of the previous group (e.g. "Group", ill. 45). Sheets and foils are however omitted, and Villa then concentrated on using the steel pipe. Usually the pipe (of whatever size) is closed off at both ends, so it does not read as tubular shape, but rather as solid massive line.

In handling the pipe thus, Villa had achieved a special combination of line and mass. Now he could delineate ideograms (conceptual signs) with this massive line, which he bends or apparently snaps to create mainly vertical structures. (ideogram: character symbolizing the idea of a thing without expressing its name; Concise Oxford Dictionary). Occasionally the diameter of the pipe compared to the length becomes so large that it is then seen rather as a column, thus negating the linear characteristic, as can be seen in "The Meeting" (ill. 51).

By their very nature the industrially manufactured pipes which Villa used during these four years, are geometrical. The soft curves in which Villa combines them, however, lend them a certain organic quality, as seen in "Homage to an Architect" (ill. 52) or in "Orange Involvement" (ill. 53). In some cases the organic aspect is enhanced by the inclusion of spheres, or by a thickening of the pipe, as in "Mother and Child" (EV-Sc, colour ill. XII).

Compositionally, too, Villa balances organic and geometric Characteristics: pipes are assembled in rectangular frameworks in a more geometric, non-figurative composition such as "orange Involvement" (ill. 53). On the other hand Villa also builds more organic structures with subtle references to human or plant structures. The balancing sections of pipes of "The Meeting" Suggest people; the intertwined pipes of "Orange Involvement" recall a tree. It is striking that Villa uses only this one formal element, i.e., the pipe; nevertheless he achieves both geometric and organic qualities, and balances them. A more obvious contrast of these qualities is present in a sculpture by Geoffrey Armstrong, Where he retains wood in its natural form as tree trunk, Contrasting it with metal pipes. (SA Art calendar, 196), 1976, p. 1) (fig. 22).

Over and above the pipes as formal element, the other formal Characteristic of Villa I s work of the mid-seventies is the vertical composition still being the primary framework. The difference here, as compared to the previous period, is that the vertical composition serves as general guideline, and not as in the case of most of the previous work, as a severely controlling principle according to which the forms are closely drawn around a hypothetical vertical core. Thus the severe frontality, symmetry, or tight parallel composition which occurred with the vertical compositions of the preceding group, falls away to a large extent. The only exception is the hieratic "Homage to an Architect" (ill.

79 52) .

A horizontal element appears in some sculptures contrasting with the vertical, by which controlled gesture and suggested movement are intensified. A composition based on such a contrast, is "composition in light blue", (EV-Sc, colour ill. XIII). Another example of grouping of diagonals creating a horizontal layer from which the vertical element rises, is the "Maquette for a memorial" (ill. 54).

In 1976 Villa exhibited at the Rand Afrikaans University, where he became acquainted with the seven storey high stair shafts. This led to a series of suspended sculptures, often of a horizontontal composition, e.g. "Suspended Penetration" (ill. 55). The floating situation implied by the horizontal composition, negates the verticali ty of standing, or even the vertical power of being­ suspended.

The third aspect which particularly distinguished this group of sculptures of the mid-seventies, is the bright colour which has been applied to them. In this case, they were not eventually overpainted black as was done in a previous period. Therefore the role of colour in sculpture, in particular during the twentieth century, will be examined in some depth to determine what function it had in the oeuvre of Edoardo Villa.

During the nineteenth century colour was regarded as an element foreign to sculpture, even more so after the archaeological finds of classical sculptures which were greatly admired. In fact colour had already disappeared from Western Sculpture since the Baroque period (Baumgart, fig's, 156 to 192). Where colour had been applied to sculpture over the previous centuries, it was done with two specific aims in mind; on the one hand the function of .imitation, so that the sculpture would not only be completely realistic in shape, but also as regards colour and finish; realism (truth to nature) was striven for in the portrait of Queen Nefertiti, for example, in spite of some formal stylisation (Gardner, 1975, plate 3-2) or in a Greek "Peplos Kore" (Gardner, 1975, plate 5-1). On the other hand colour was applied as symbolic value, as the blue of a cloak could emphasize it being that of the Holy Mother (Gardner, 1975, plate 12-3) (Baumgart, 1966, colourplate VII) .

During the second decade of the twentieth century colour again appeared as part of the assemblage works in Western sculpture. Such sCUlptures were combinations of different materials and were painted, e.g. Picasso (1881 - 1973) : "Mandolin" 1914, (Read, 1964, fig. 88), Laurens (1885 - 1954) : "Black and red sheet iron", 1914, (Read, 1964, fig. 115) and Boccioni (1882 - 1916) "Horse and Rider and House", also 1914 (Read, 1964, fig. 116). Here colour is not so much applied symbolically, but rather as formal and expressive element.

Where colour becomes expressive, it plays on feeling. For Philip King (1934 ­ ) colour constitutes the intuitive component of the wCl.k of art: "Colour is for me the life-line into this invisible world where feelings takes over from thinking and without the

80 51 52

54

53 experience of which one's sense of realitity in art would be false and diminished" (King, 1969, p , 21). Villa senses that each sculpture needs a particular colour: sometimes various colours, or even different shades of the same colour are tested before the decision is made intuitively that the true colour correlate of a particular feeling has been found.

On the formal level colour can play an articulating role, as it serves to influence the observation of form by optical effects. On the one hand colour can serve to bind a multitude of forms by rendering a uniform "skin" over them. On the other hand colour can serve to delineate the boundaries between the forms, thus clearly establishing each shape.

Particularly during the sixties, colour was an important binding factor when Villa was using industrial. elements (cf. Watter, 1967, unnumbered; EV-Sc, colour plates IV, V, VI). Tim Scott stated it as follows: " ... it has served and serves the purpose of providing a skin envelope of unifying character" (Scott, 1969, p. 22).

Other sculptors wish to identify the various forms, thus placing them in fixed relationship to one another, as determined by the sculptor. Archipenko (1887 - 1964) in particular tried to render formal relationships independent of casual effects in his use of colour (Elsen, 1974, p , 104). Laurens too (1885 1954) and Lipchitz (1891 -) wanted to define planes clearly by colour (Elsen, 1974, p. 106). Similarly Eduard Paolozzi (1924 ) emphasizes separate mechanical formal units, as does Philip King (1934 - ) by applying bright primary colours on different parts of their sculptures (Lucie-smith, 1977, figs. 285, 286: "Last of the idols" and "Through").

As a formal quality, Edoardo Villa regarded colour as a binding element. His sculptures are completely painted in only one colour with the result that form and colour merge in a special way to become "colourform". Occasionally the "figures" in a group are not the same colour, (e.g. the small "Black/white" and "White/black", EV-Sc, colour fig. XIV) but each "figure" has only one colour.

Colour can however be expressive even as formal element in the sense of counterplay between something bright, fragile (suggested by a soft or light colour) and the actual strength of the material under the layer of colour (Watter, 1967: where it adds another dimension out of dialectic play of brightness against strength). In this way colour has the same effect as a very smooth, shiny surface, as mentioned previously. Colour in fact then acts as dematerializing quality against the sensory presence of mass and matter. Philip King states it thus: "Colour is probably the most fragile of the world of things, where qualities of weight, volume and texture would seem to dominate. Yet it is this very fragility that makes it important for me." (King, 1967, p. 21)

Here another contrast of apparent opposites comes into play, and a latent tension is evoked by the creation of form, just as in the case of the organic and geometric qualities which are continuouslY being balanced.

81 It appears that Villa chose metallic, light pastel shades of colour for the suspended "floating" compositions, probably to emphasize a weightlessness. "Suspended Vertical" (fig. 56) for example, is a soft gleaming green; another "Suspended vertical" in his home is silvergrey. Only a few examples such as "Suspended Penetration" (fig. 55) are painted a warm reddish orange.

Piet Mondrian (1872 - 1944) also described the role of bright colour as a means of dematerialising matter: "But colour is, in the present state of the technique, also the best means for dematerialising matter in the realm of abstract constructions of three dimensions; technical means are as a rule insufficient." (Chipp, 1968, p. 356). Maybe this statement contains the explanation for the most brightly coloured of Villa's sculptures being those which least relate to the human structure. As soon as he creates more figurative works, such as "The Meeting" (ill. 51) or "Group" (ill. 57) he returns to the blue-black patina which he normally adopts for steel sculpture.

The appearance of brightly coloured plastics in Western sculpture might have been another reason why Edoardo Villa incorporated colour into his sculpture, particularly during the mid-seventies (cf. works by Balla, 1974, exhib. Rembrandt Pavilion, Rand Show, exhib. cat.). Villa himself did not revert to the new material. He came close to the formal language of synthetic material, however, in the gentle curves of non-figurative compositions (in particular "Orange Involvement" (ill. 53), "Composition in light blue"; "Suspended Vertical" (ill. 56», combined with a bright shiny colour, without interrupting the rhythmic evolution of his own development and his use of steel. (Many visitors to the 1976 exhibition touched or knocked on the sculptures to try and establish the material of which they were made.)

Yet another approach had appeared in sculpture, i.e. the new realism, as seen in the body casts by Duane Hanson and John Davies (Lucie-smith: fig's. 383 and 384 respectively: "Woman with shopping cart" and a view of the Davies exhibition in 1975). Nevertheless Villa was not alone in persevering with his construction using industrial geometric given forms. William Tucker built non­ figurative compositions of steel beams and pipes (Tucker, 1972, p. 241). Villa's "Meeting" reminds one of "25 Tonnes de Colonnes" by Pol Bury, a composition of vertical black pipes with diagonal cuts (Kunst en cultuur, VI, (7), 1973, front cover) .

. Up to this point three of the formal qualities of Edoardo Villa's sculpture of the mid-seventies have been examined: the pipe, as material, the vertical structure with contrasting horisontal elements as most important composition, and colour as formal and expressive element incorporated with form. A fourth formal element which would play an increasingly important role in his visual language, and which could thus gain in meaning, is the cut.

The cut as cut-off section, had already appeared as geometrically controlling plane on the robust bronzes and the very rounded steel sculptures of the late sixties (cf. fig's. 41, 43). Early in the seventies the cut diagonally across the form had appeared in the

82 55 56

57

58 stark vertical sheets. The resulting change in direction added a liveliness to the otherwise severe forms. At first the cut was not applied to the pipes with soft curves. The cut then only appeared again in 1975, and then as a very important formal element. The cuts almost sever the sections of the vertical black pipe of "Meeting", 1975, (ill. 51), resulting in an apparently delicate balance of the otherwise stark verticality of the equally thick pipes. Some of the almost severed pipes were not closed off, giving the effect of a cut through a solid body as had been the case previously, but were left open so that the pipe as hollow tube becomes evident.

As regdrds movement the cuts are important too: they create the impression that the pipes could topple from their vertical position. Thus controlled gesture and movement are suggested. The latent tension created thus is further intensified in the four group sculptures e.g. "Group" 1976, (ill. 56) in which the cut has caused the pipes to sway to diagonal positions, to the extent that the composition of the last of the series, "Group" (ill. 57) is almost completely horisontal.

In spite of the suggested movement, Villa's sculptures retain powerful volume and mass. This contrasts strongly with the work of younger constructivist sculptors. In the sculptures of Malcolm Payne for instance the nick (bend) is in fact the whole action of his skeletal constructions of sections of rusted steel. By empathic experience the bending of knees, elbows and twisting of the hips are sensed in such non-figurative works (Metalart '76, "AB I", cat. no. 29) (ill. 21).

By leaving the pipes open, Villa started on a process of continuing formal evolution which would be very important in his formal language at the end of the decade. Edoardo Villa's theme of the group relationship which he now depictej in pipe constructions, appear similar to those of the previous group of sculptures which had been constructed with sheets and foils. The free-standing group sculpture as theme in itself was however a fairly recent development in the West. Larger group SCUlptures had earlier been conceived mainly in relief, as sculpture had often been closely linked to architecture. Examples can be seen on the arch of Constantine: "Trajan in the battle against the Daker:, (Baumgart, 1966, fig. 4) or of the sacrifice in the temple, on Rheims Cathedral (BaumCjart,1966, fig. 59), or in the "Last Supper" of Riemenschneider (Baumgart, 1966, fig. 118), to mention but a few examples. During the Baroque period in Europe group sculptures were increasingly moving away from walls and niches. However, the space in which they were positioned was still a milieu determined by architecture, as can be seen in the well-known "Ecstasy of the Holy Theresa" by Bernini (Baumgart, 1966, fig. 157) or in the "Ascension of Mary" by Egid Quirin Asam (Baumgart, 1966, fig. 168).

The first actual freestanding group, placed away from both architectural or monumental edifice, appears to the "Burghers of Calais" 1884 - 88, by Auguste Rodin (1840 - 1917). The free­ standing group, consisting or 2 or 3 elements, became a truly accepted sculptural theme only when it had been freed of the

83 concept of sculpture as monolithic unit, or as integral part of architecture. During the twentieth century many free-standing sculptures were created: only gradually the free-standing group sculpture came into its own. Two completely differing examples are "Platz" by Alberto Giacometti (1901 - 1966) (Baumgart, 1966, fig. 210, 1948-9) and studies by Afred Lorcher like "Konferenz am rechtwinkeliger Tisch" (Baumgart, 1966, fig. 212).

The relationship as such, the relation between the units is the main theme for Villa. Various types of relationships are portrayed: on the one hand in terms of human situations, on the other as an abstract concept of relationships in non-figurative compositions.

Villa's free-standing group sculpture "The Meeting" (ill 51) does no however depict a specific event in history such as the "Burghers of Calais" by Rodin does. His group presents an image of the group as phenomenon, and a group awareness and cohesion. This contrasts with Giacometti's "Platz", which rather emphasizes estrangement, potential awareness of movement, and the enormous spaces between the members of the group. Viewed against this, the little group of Lorcher with the small figures gathered around the conference table is almost illustrative.

Villa's group sculpture presents, with the simplest of means, an everyday, general, linking of a group which becomes a unit for a while, but which could split up as easily to join another group. The "members" of this group are thus not dependent on this particular relationship for their existence, and can equally well function in another group, within which they could play another role.

various types of universal human relationships are portrayed. In spite of the fact that the forms remind us only very indirectly of the human frame, human attitude and gesture provide the necessary possibilities for correlation.

The relationships between two beings can vary: the universal love­ relationship of a young couple is reflected in "Conversation in red" while a more emotional, intense involvement is inherent in the black "Group" (ill. 56) where the bent, interlocking pipes appear to be on the point of collapsing. This is a strong contrast to the parallel mounted, otherworldly dignity of a royal couple made in the early seventies, e.g. "Conversation" (EV-Sc, fig. 87). Intense involvement, but with less impetuous feeling, is conveyed by most of the small, more figurative bronze groups of a more organic nature which Villa had modelled as more intimate counterparts of the large pipe constructions (ill. 58).

Another universal relationship between two beings is that between mother and child, a theme which could carry many symbolic values, e.g. the fertile Earth Mother "Charity" or the Virgin Mother of the Christ-child. In Villa's "Mother and Child" (EV-Sc, colour plate XII) the general relationship of protection, support, and intimate linking and trust is expressed by the vertical pipes of varied diameter, close to one another, with gentle curves towards the ends. The soft green colour intensifies the expression of

84 purity, youth and implied fertility and growth. Villa had previously seldom created the relationships of a larger group. However this was to become the primary theme during the late seventies.

Villa used the same given material form, i.e. the pipe, in which relationships as such are expressed by the compositional framework. The pipes circumscribe hypothetical rectangles which interlock, as in "Orange Involvement" (ill. 53) or "Suspended Penetration" (ill. 54). The ends of the pipes which "move" in parallel planes, are then turned back toward one another. The power which could "flow" out along the pipe is again caught up. Thus Villa maintains the binding force of a hypothetical core. This binding, or centripetal tendency, remains as a constant in Edoardo Villa's sculpture, even in such relatively "open" compositions. In these abstract sculptures in particular Villa is rendering visible the relativity of forces, a concept which had replaced that of solid matter.

Edoardo Villa's increasing depiction of the group relationship, and of the tensions in such relationships, could possibly be linked to the background of a changing situation in Southern Africa. In marked contrast to the enormous confidence which had characterized the late sixties, the country had experienced various dismaying and tense occurrences (Suzman', 1975, pp , 623 - 625) which had caused a large section of the white population to have doubts about their future in this country, and which had given rise to many changes. It is noticeable that Villa created the almost horizontal tumbling "Group" (ill. 57) in the year 1976, when serious riots took place in Soweto. Maybe, too, his contact with another section of the population, i.e. the Afrikaners, had led him to a greater realization of the various groups in the South African context. His usual circle was that of the English-speaking Johannesburg person. He only really became acquainted with Afrikaans-speaking people at his exhibitions in 1970 at the Pretoria Art Gallery, and in 1976 at the Rand Afrikaans university.

SUMMARY

During the mid-seventies Edoardo Villa had reached the situation where he could express themes on various possible levels by the use of a single, simple formal entity, i.e. the tube or steel pipe. In addition, he could incorporate the expressive and formal qualities of bright colour in his forms. with these means he could equally 'well create a hieratic image, or the symbolic representation of a group of human beings. Equally he could construct compositions which are signs of continuously changeable, evolving relationships, which could be seen as symbols of the spirit of the times in South Africa. Although Villa never surrenders the firm core of sCUlpture, he gained greater freedom in creating sculptures which were not bound in a symmetrical or frontal composition, and could thus relate to the surroundings in all directions.

GROUP XI: 1977 - 1979

Also during the late seventies, the group was to be the main theme

85 of the sculpture of Edoardo Villa. A series of maquettes of such group compositions, at first about a metre tall, then almost two metres, achieved a climax in the enormous group of seven free­ standing "figures" called "Confrontation", 1978 (ill. 59). The closely grouped elements of "Reunion" (ill. 60) and the single vertical compositions like "Figure I" (ill. 61) had been the precursors of the concept of this enormous composition, stretching over four metres high. In all these, Villa had developed a formal language by exploring all the possibilities inherent in the basic pipe shape.

Unlike the soft curves by which direction changes in the sculptures of the mid-seventies were achieved, Villa increasingly cut through the pipes at different angles, and even divided the tube vertically. The sections were tipped, and balanced on one another: straight line up against straight line brought about a sterner, more geometric formal language in these works of the late seventies. Gentler features were added by the detail of half­ circles, or the curved line of the cut through the pipe. Vertical and horizontal line, flat or curved planes alternate in a tightly woven composition. Diagonals supply emphasis, and suggest direction and movement.

Muted colour comes with the reappearance of the harshness of the steel medium, contrasting with the almost "plastic" softness of form of the brightly coloured sculptures of 1974 - 75. At first the steel is patinated only with a few layers of thin, almost transparent dark enamel paint. Gradually some of the sculptures are not covered at all, and the surface is left to rust. This was a most unusual procedure for Villa, who normally wants to control and determine all aspects of his creations up to the final details. The rust had a deep terra-cotta colour, and results in an almost velvetlike texture, which is a very important visual characteristic of the large "Confrontation". Where a shiny, smooth surface helps to dematerialize form, a strongly textJred surface such as this rusted steel renders the material and mass more physically present.

By doing this Villa was using similar effects to those obtained by other sculptors using a very expensive steel alloy, "Corten", which is made in such a way that it rusts only a few millimetres deep on the surface. This layer of rust however, has the advantage that it seals the metal, not as is the case with ordinary iron or steel, where the rust penetrates ever further. with this new material the American painter Jules Olitzky (1922 -) achieved an especially intense rusty yellow colour in his SCUlpture "Schechinah Temptations". (1976, Art International, XXII/3, 1978, p.21) .

Texture is not limited to the final appearance of the surface alone. A rich pattern of line, shadow, and light areas resulted from cutting open the given form, thus gaining in both concave and convex shape, by many variations of overlapping and interlocking them. Thus the whole composition becomes "texture" (ill. 62, detail of "confrontation") and in this respect recalls Villa's modelling of the early forties (ill. 5) or his early compositions in strips of steel, e.g. "Winter" (ill. 19).

86 In spite of this rich texturing of rusted steel .and a mUltiplicity of concave and convex forms which had been achieved by cutting and overlapping, Villa remained faithful to his particular handling of steel, with exactly cut edges, and very finely finished seams and joins. This contrasts clearly with the approach of some other steel sculptors of the "Art Brut" school, who leave visible the uneven pools or seams of welding or the rough edges of the cutting blowtorch. (e.g. Malcolm Payne, "AB I", ill. 18). The phrase "Art Brut" is mainly used in architecture, but basically refers to the concept of truth to material, and simply allowing the harsh nature or the material to remain visible. (Arnason, 1978, p. 454).

Villa's approach can be partly ascribed to his control of his material and formal language; partly it can be ascribed to abstraction in sculpture. In an article on the new work of Jules Olitzky, Kenneth Moffet writes as follows: "Since it deals with real, literal elements and without the abstracting automatically resulting in a picture plane, abstract sculpture needs to be more abstract in form. This is the reason why geometry and/or clear, paired, and trued edges impose themselves more on abstract sculpture than on abstract painting. For all its pictorialism, the new sculpture tends to be non-painterly, or better, "linear" in Wofflin's sense of the term. (Art International, XXII, /3. 1978, p. 120). Thus it would follow that where Villa then specifically builds structures that have anthropomorphic tendencies, he would concentrate especially on the geometric aspect, so as to emphasize the abstract, the non-illustrative qualities, thus retaining the universality of meaning.

The two-dimensionality of Villa's material is more clearly visible in these cut-open pipes and angle beams. than in earlier works where all volumes were enclosed (e.g. massive "figures" of the late sixties, ill. 36). Nevertheless, Villa implies volume, mass and monumentality in these works, that does not solely depend on the physical size of the sculpture (also the reclining "Tilted Figure" is more than two metres high but in the way in which the half-open pipes overlap a core as well, e.g. in the "figure" of "Confrontation" (ill. 59) or in the manner of joining the angle beams in the "Tilted Figure" (ill. 63). The fullness of both sculptures, especially of "Figure I" (ill. 61) becomes even clearer when they are compared to the strongly relieflike small "Heraldic Figures" (ill. 25) of the earlier sixties. This comparison also shows the development of subtle variation, as in "Figure I", which Villa had achieved during the preceding sixteen years, thus moving away from the symmetry and patterned character of the early works.

In the sculpture of the late seventies Edoardo villa achieved a remarkable balance of geometric and organic form. The harshness of the given material, steel pipes and rods, is enlivened by cutting them open and varying their combination to achieve organically cohesive structures. The hard, machine-made steel finish is endowed with a further organic quality by rich colouring and the texture or the rustea surface.

Balancing the organic multiplicity of textures of light and shadow, Villa again adopts the stronger geometric framework of mainly

87. vertical composition for the group as a whole. The larger groups such as "Confrontation" (ill. 59) and "Last to arrive" (ill. 64) are enclosed in a hypothetical rectangular frame, so that they appear to have a type of relief composition. The difference is, however, that they constitute a free-standing relief which functions visually from all angles, in spite of being mounted in a particular plane. To a certain extent the positioning in "Confrontation" is determined thematically, as the suggested movement "the-rising-up-against-one-another" is most clearly visible when seen in a plane. Although the situation implied in "The last to Arrive" is static, the figures (consisting of single angle beams) are set close to one another. The group thus seems to have been conceived even more definitely as a relief.

In spite of sculpture having dissolved itself from architecture in the twentieth century, thus making possible the free-standing group sculpture, there appear to be few equivalents to Villa's large groups. Two examples are, however, sculptures of Louise Nevelson which have certain formal similarities with Villa's groups, but differ completely in meaning. Here "Transparent Horizon" 1975 (Arnason, 1978, fig. 1073) has formal similarities with "Confrontation" as regards the vertical composition, and the curved sheets. Her steel sheets affirm plane and line in an abstract composition which has no connection to any anthropomorphism. Her "Bicentennial Dawn" 1976 (Arnason, 1978, fig. 1074) even consists of two groups of vertical elements, heaps of white-painted geometrically shaped wooden discs, also without any figurative connotations. From this comparison it can be seen how Nevelson creates constructions in space, whereas Villa creates symbolic forms and structures.

Villa's single figures, or smaller groups such as "Reunion" (ill. 60) are enclosed in the shape of a column. The reclining "figures" which now reappeared again after almost ten years had elapsed, are enclosed in a horizontal rectangular cube, w~thin which vertical elements are very dominant.

Any suggestion of gesture in Villa's work is here too, constrained to a latent, potential movement which indeed functions intensely within the framework, but never breaks out of it. This can be observed very clearly in the almost sliding diagonals of "Tilted Figure" (ill. 63), the largest of four reclining figures (EV-Sc, small fig's. 70, 71). This implies that Villa retains the centripetal core of his sculpture, in spite of more opened forms. Similarly the expressiveness that he could achieve with this formal language was always controlled.

It is to be noted that the younger generation of sculptors rather create non-figurative works, at this particular time when Edoardo Villa is again working to the theme of man and his relationships. In 1978 Knut Albrecht carves about twenty monolithic sculptures from historic sandstone columns and beams (RAU sculpture garden, br0chure, 1978); Gavin Young creates organic mechanisms with which he gains an award at the "Metalart" exhibition (University of Witwatersrand); Ian Redelinghuys builds abstract constructions with large steel cones and beams ("Vortex" RAU sculpture garden) ;

88 63

65

66 Willem Strydom builds space constructions by using a combination of railway sleepers and solid steel rods (call. JAG) (ill's. 20, 21,22).

It would thus appear that the succeeding generation of sculptors were concerned particularly with the non-figurative directions taken in Europe, while Edoardo Villa had already worked through these tendencies, and had returned to his personal preference fo\ Humanistic themes. In fact he now developed the theme of the group which had become ever more dominant in his oeuvre over the past decade, to a monumental scale in the two abovementioned works "Confrontation" (fig. 59) and "The last to arrive" (fig. 64). These could possibly also be seen as images of the tension and unrest which could be sensed in Southern Africa, in particular if one takes into account a few events which could indicate the atmosphere in which Villa had worked.

Fighting between the Marxist supported government of the recently independent Angola and the revel UNITA forces had resulted in a stream of fugitives into South West Africa (April 1978); foreign troops, in particular Cubans, everywhere in Southern Africa left even the member countries of the Organisation for African unity uneasy (July 1978); South Africa launched a massive attack on the SWAPO base at Cassinga (May 1978); the government of Idi Amin is toppled (April 1979); and the Information scandal in South Africa causes an internal lack of confidence in the government, with the resultant resignation of the Prime Minister (March/April 1979) (Encyclopaedia Britanica Yearbooks, 1979, 1980).

Against such a background of events, it is almost no surprize that Villa's seven "Figures" (which he had first created individually and then placed in groups) were simultaneously warriors and armaments. The painted horizontal and diagonal forms which serve as endings to the vertical pipes, can be seen as the heads of these figure, but are, too, rockets, cannon, and fighter aircraft. Man and his whole arsenal of aggression had become unified, just as in Epstein's "Rock Drill" (Read, 1964, fig. 158) where man and his tool had merged, or in Henry Moore's warrior helmet in which the cloud of the atomic bomb explosion is also visible (Read, 1965, figs. 237, 238).

Not to be seen in Villa 1 s armoured figures is the vulnerable, defenseless human being, hardly finding shelter behind his shield, as is the case with Henry Moore's warriors (Read, 1965, figs. 178, 180, 192); rather Villa's warriors are the impersonal images of modern mechanized warfare, self-assured in the situation and within the protective covering. Even the various reclining compositions such as "Guerriero Morente" (the dying soldier, a title given by Villa himself in an unusual move) and the monumental "Tilted Figure" (fig. 63) retain a tension and power that do not speak of complete vulnerability in spite of the bowed head.

The large group sculptures of Edoardo Villa now denote larger contexts than that of the intimate pair or family; maybe he too i5 looking further than the small narrow group, to the situation of South Africa in a larger context. with the formal language of

89 the late seventies he however does not only express aggression and -confrontation: the diagonal jutting movement and the suggestion of armed figures does not appear in "The Last to arrive", where a group has been joined in close, harmonious unity, while the process of unification is continued by the individual approaching them.

SUMMARY

Edoardo Villa's forms and the meanings immanent in them had undergone major changes in the last years of the decade. Instead of the soft curves, smooth surfaces, and the bright colour of a single given form, sharp cuts, bends, a rough, rusted surface and sombre colour had become typical of his work. Where harmony and unity had previously been depicted in sign-like structures, the later complex constructions rather became symbof.s of conflict, aggression, and uncertainty. Villa returned to stronger figurative forms to render the physical presence of a new, more brutal reality.

During the decade Villa had thus alternatively created signs and symbols. Sculptures of the previous group of works of the mid­ seventies could be seen as signs e.g. the family group to which C.G. Jung's definitions could apply: " ... an expression that stands for a known thing remains a mere sign and never a symbol. It is, therefore, quite impossible to create a living symbol, i.e. one that is pregnant with meaning, from known associations" (Jung, 1971, p. 475). Not much later Villa again creates symbols, in the armoured figures of the late seventies.

Possibly Herbert Read offers an explanation of this when he points out that human consciousness has a history, Le. that it had developed cumulatively. Where man in the early stages of unreflective unity with nature had needed only images to project his sensations, he later, when separated from the rest of creation (in a phase denoted as the ontological by van Peursen) (van Peursen, 1976, p. 52) had to create symbols able to express his own being. This led to conceptual symbols, som~ of which were constant and archetypal, others more temporary and even personal, according to Read (Read, 1964, "Philosophy", p. 22). As modern man alternately functions in the mythical awareness state (as the initial condition is described) and sometimes ontologically (as the situation of distancing is called), it is thus to be expected that he would create both signs and symbols. This could be a possible explanation for the apparently chance variations in the relation of form and meaning in Edoardo Villa's oeuvre, by which his sculptures are created in alternating series, becoming either signs or symbols.

90 CHAPTER 4

1980 - 1988

In 1980 Edoardo Villa's career as sculptor was crowned by an enormous retrospective exhIbi.t.Lon of his whole oeuvre, encompassing almost three hundred works. He had been invited to exhibit on the extensive campus of the Rand Afrikaanse University. This resulted in a clearly defined change in the rhythmic development of form and meaning in his work, as the compilation of the commemorative pUblication (EV-Sc) and the preparation of :the exhibits had already commenced in 1979.

The actual interruption of his working rhythm aside, two other factors also contributed to the diversification of his formal language during the following years. Firstly, being able to re­ examine examples of his whole oeuvre recalled many formal possibilities that could still be, developed. Secondly, he was awarded three important commissions for large sculptures in other cities. To complete these, Villa took up very different types of formal language, so as to answer to the varying needs of the patrons and eventual positions in which the sculpture was to be placed.

This chapter will endeavour to follow the further self-generating creative process in Villa's oeuvre, with the changes in form and concomitant variations in meaning which took place in the years from 1980 to 1988. '

GROUP XII: 1980

The works discussed here are very divergent although they had been made in 1980, during and after the big retrospective at the RAU. They attest to Villa's reassessment of hib work up to then, and rediscovering in them some further points of departure. Surprisingly, some of the first steel sculptures he made were non­ figurative compositions, in which he again limited himself to just one formal element: angle beam, slightly hollow disc, or pipe.

These basic element were used to created fields of tension, as can be seen in "Separate Elliptic Forms" (ill 65) where he in fact combined two of these formal elements in a horizontal composition. Here gesture or movement is important - these works reflecting "becoming". They could be seen as signs rendering dynamic forces.

In his preparation for a large commission for Cape Town, to be erected on the Foreshore near the State Theatre, it was decided that very thoroughly painted steel pipes would best be able to survive the seashore environment. Thus Villa recalled his brightly coloured pipe structures of the mid-seventies (ill. 52, 53) and created some rather more horizontal, gridlike structures like "Red Progression I" (ill 66). Eventually the resultant "The Knot", (see cover of Lantern 35(3) Oct. 1986) painted a shiny enamel red, became a combination of a vertical type of grid and a diagonal movement of more organic extensions breaking the symmetry of the vertical elements.

91 The geometrical grid-structures were to become more fluid, even more gestural, although they remained mainly non-figurative. Villa had shown great interest in meeting, and listening to the lecture by visiting British sculptor Anthony Caro (1924 - ). It could have been the renewed acquaintance with his constructivist works that led Villa to experiment with for him unusually "unbalanced" works shapes creeping over the edge. In some cases the composition even overflowed the stand, as was the case in "Big Falling Forms" which was provisionally bought by the Durban Art Gallery (ill 67). Here the horizontal flowing direction taken on by compositions such as "Progression" and "Emerging Forms" is given even more tension by the implication of potential falling, thus suggesting a vertical component, i.e. the force of gravity.

Where, however, the maquettes for "The Knot" had been brightly painted in colour (the corrosive effects of the sea wind being kept in mind) Villa returned to the variegated patinas derived from rusted steel, to finish these more organically intertwined pipe ideograms. These too, like the "Separate Elliptic Forms" could be seen as signs of "becoming", or as signs of progression, evolution, ever-changing relationships, which reflect the functional outlook of the twentieth century.

Alpo included in the exhibition held early in the following year (lf981) at the Goodman Gallery were some single pipe "personnages." As always, having determined his formal parameters, Villa could not long remain distant from the human figure, and these at first single, apparently isolated linear black creatures were to be the fore-runners of a series of new figurative works. '---

Perhaps the return to the figure was not solely due to his humanist Italian heritage, but was becoming increasingly part of the South African situation, where the tensions in human relationships, and continuous changes in the way society had been ordered were taking place. There was still a lot of unrest in the black townships, particularly about education; a President •s Council had been appointed to which representatives of various population groups had been elected. On the one hand the Republic experienced greater antagonism from outside, with Robert Mugabe winning the elections and instituting the first black government in Zimbabwe, on the other hand Ciskei opted for independence and appeared to go along with government policy. (Encyclopaedia Britanica Yearbook 1982).

GROUP XIII: 1981- 1982

This group consists mainly of figurative works, starting off with a very pronounced vez-tLcai Ltiy, eventually relaxing into horizontal­ diagonal reclining figures; an evolutionary process which has been noted before in Villa's oeuvre - compare the "Confrontation" group (ill. 59) with the eventual "Tilted Figure" (ill. 63). In 1982 there was to be another swing back to minimalist geometric shapes: opening or closing windowed boxes which were to be the precursors of a whole new series which was to evolve over the following four years.

92 68

I 68

70 Beginning group XIII, the small single figures which had re­ appeared in 1980 grew to a massive scale (4,5 metres) in the "Tre Personnagi" of 1981 (ill 68). These tall, slender figures are creatures from another world. with bulbous and mechanical forms overlapping on a pipe structure they are at the same time similar to the geometric "armoured" type of bold figures created in 1968 (cf. ill. 36) and also to the more organic, flowing pipe figures in bright colours of the mid-seventies (ill. 52, 53) (cf. EV-Sc, colourplate XII).

This type of geometric-organic human figure was however only a short interim in Villa's oeuvre, not leading as usual to a whole series of at least four works, but ending in the gemlike pair he made for Afrox (ill. 69). Here the contrast between the bulbous parts and the pipe and sliced beam sections is enhanced by the use of shiny stainless steel balls; the other steel sections are enamelled to a silvery matt sheen. Thus the figures take on a metallic quality very different to his other works which are mainly in dark colours. This further enhances their other-wordly, though humanoid presence.

In 1981 Villa also went through a phase of a very large number of modelled maquettes, preparing to model a two metre bronze sculpture for the Durban Art Gallery (ill 70). Here again can be seen how Villa is increasingly able to create works in which organic and geometric qualities are successfully combined, recalling at the same time the gentler bronze precursors of four years earlier (ill. 58) (EV-Sc, colourplates XVI, XVII) and the geometric "giants" of the late sixties (ill. 36) (Ev-Sc, colourplates X, XI). In this example (ill. 70) of his latest modelled work, it becomes very clear how Villa is creating new sculptures subtly combining the extremes of sculptural possibilities that he had boldly stated earlier.

Villa's j oie de vivre then comes through again in 1982 with a series of smaller figures, made in single pipe lines, with a feW bulbous shapes (ill 71). In colour and simple formal means, they are related to the brightly coloured compositions of the mid­ seventies (ill. 54, 53) (EV-Sc, colourplates XII,XII), but in their playful sprawling, break out of the rigid vertical or horizontal frameworks of their predecessors. Villa appeared to be slowly but steadily relaxing the precise geometrical confines (both in the sense of cubi c "enclosures" and in tight symmetry) that had so long governed his work, to make more opened compositions where an interplay between space and shape functioning on various axes, could be achieved. (This could also perhaps be seen as a subtle reflection of the gradual relaxing of the strongly hierarchical local society - the suggestion of a tricameral parliament, the planned Development Bank to assist in decentralisation.)

There appears to be' -no main sculptural movement in the early eighties with which Villa's work could be compared. Looking at some notable works produced in the late seventies up to 1982, diversity of approach and theme affirm the diversity of the twentieth century. On the one hand Isamu Noguchi createS "landscapes" like the "California Scenario: (Demarco, R: studio

93 International 196 (1003) 1982), on the other hand John Davies continues his series of eerie bloodless half-dressed male figures in trance-like states. (Studio International 195 (993/4) 1982). Yet another approach is the tongue in cheek attitude of the British sculptor Barry Flanagan who was to feature at Venice Biennale of 1982 with his bronze rabbits and dogs (Studio International 195 (995), 1985).

Similarly in Southern Africa a wide variety of sculptural directions are developed simultaneously. In Zimbabwe Shona sculptors in particular were carving sculptures that were expressive of a culture in transition from the rural to the urban and were giving vent to traditional mystical beliefs, yet realising the process of change. (Arnold, de Arte 26: (discusses the works of Mukomberanwa, Chirmoyo, and Takawira.) Also in South Africa black artists were coming increasingly to the fore. One of the most impressive of these sculptors was Jackson Xidonkani Hlungwane, who created powerful woodcarvings of Biblical figures out of his religious fervour (fig. 24).

The Standard Bank sculpture competition early in 1982 for a work to be placed outside their new building in Johannesburg gave the opportunity of seeing" a presentative collection of South African sculpture (Arnold, de Arte 27). It is notable that the larger maquette built to one fifth of the envisaged scale by the six finalists were non-figurative works (in very varied techniques ranging from wood, iron, brass and bronze to ceramic). Nevertheless they reflected the human presence, albeit not his semblance: the construction of Willem Strydom I s "cage" of various materials attests to the human urge to make things; Neels Coetzee's shapes are derived from the human skull; both Malcolm Payne and Ian Redelinghuys imply human movement in their structures; whilst Gavin Young and Nina Romm create more organic shapes seeming to spring from the human subconscious need to create symbols.

It is also notable that none of the younger artists appear to have adopted steel as their exclusive medium, in the same way that Villa or Caro did. Perhaps the diversity of concepts they wished to express needed more widely differing media, and a movement ensued away from the formalist Minimal and Construction vein to an increasingly socially involved content, such as the ceramic works of John Nowers, or the woodcarvings of Peter Schutz (cf. the Cape Town Triennial, 1982).

Group XIV: 1982 - 1986

In a typical swing to the opposites, after the previous playful figures Edoardo Villa reverted to geometrical shapes and compositions (the cube as encompassing format). These "opening boxes" where to be the precursors of a series that would preoccupy him well into 1986, evolving various symbolic meanings.

One of the variations was evolved as the result of a commission by S.A. Airways. For this he took the cubic opening box shape, and combined it with long triangular spikes. By raising it up on a diagonal pipe "leg" he created a structure of tense diagonals

94 lifted off the ground, suggesting flight (ill. 72). In its spikiness it shows interesting similarities with the tall "Africa" of 1~59 (ill. 18). However, the comparison also makes it clear how far Villa had come in breaking out of the tight vertical composition he had so long adopted, and in combining geometric and organic formal elements.

With the atmosphere in south Africa partly, optimistic (whites voting for a tricameral parliament in the Republic, thus paving the way for a new constitution) and partly pessimistic (car bomb attack on the Air Force Head Quarters, killing 18 and injuring 200) it is perhaps not surprising that Villa would react by combining his'''boxes'' with the organic pipes to create works that showed clear references to war and aggression. He in fact called these "War Machines", for which very canon-like maquettes were already made in 1982 (cf. ill. 76).

This raises the question which so often confronted the artist in the eighties: being a'barometer of society, should the artist be occupied in expressing social and political commentary. The Cape Town art critic Deon Viljoen made a very clear distinction between relevance and involvement in his article for the catalogue of the 1985 Cape Triennial: "Involvement implies a particular attitude of mind, and is not merely dependent on the right choice of subject or theme. Involvement is an inclusive concept, not an exclusive one. On a personal level involvement means an exposure of self, and not a cutting off or setting aside. By involvement boundaries are moved, not confirmed - compromises are arrived at, not unyieldingly resisted. Involvement implies negotiating, not intractability. Without these aspects their is no dynamic involvement, no involved art yet exists. Relevant art is however too easily seen as such".

Villa I s answer to the question (in an interview with professor Alan Crump, catalogue 1987): "The protesting must be there but the first aspect must be the quality of the sculpture itself. It is logical that protesting must be part of a time in which we live and it is obvious that I must participate, but it is not my primary concern. My primary concern is to create a piece of sculpture."

In this group of works up to 1986 it can be seen how Villa in fact makes sculpture that is a continuation of the evolution and self­ generating force of his oeuvre, but also clearly reflects his very real involvement in life around him,

Before these larger versions of the war machines were to be made in 1986, however, Villa in 1983 reverted to the vertical compositional framework. The major difference between these "Cages" (or as he called them, "Serie del Prigioniero" - series of the prisoner) and earlier vertical> works, is the way in which he articulated the inside core of the sculpture. Previously his works had consisted either of very densely compacted masses (cf , ill. 33: Athlete) or of very open frameworks (cf. ill. 47: Environmental Sculpture). He now combined the geometrical elements of opening "boxes" on which grids of steel bars were placed over many of the "windows", with internal curved pipes of varying dimensions, creating organic creatures, e.g. "Cage III" (ill. 73). 71

7 3

",

74 Here Villa has created a visually rich symbol, cOmbining the static (rigid box enclosure) with the dynamic (thrusting emergent organic shape) in a structure which presents different views of opening and being enclosed from each angle the work is viewed. Here again he has achieved a synthesis of some very early formal elements: the formal grids of parallel bars and plates seen in the mid-fifties (cf. ill. 17: African Rhythm) with the powerfully organic figures of the late sixties (cf. ill's. 36, 37: Vertical and Horizontal IV). The re-use of the grids and plates were stimulated by the commission he completed in 1982 for a sculpture to be suspended in the new Port Elizabeth Town Hall. In that case he considered an open framework of such a latticed cage to be the most suitable for the architecture.

The series of "cages" are rich in symbolic possibilities: are these symbols of the latent energy of Africa, trying to break out into the twentieth century (in spite of widespread drought; crippling economic problems engendered by unstable political conditions) or are they symbols of the potential of black power in South Africa itself, trying to break out of the existent political system? (In 1983 the United Democratic Front came into being, combining many black organizations which were opposed to the government (Encyclopaedia Britanica Yearbook 1984». Or was Villa creating a monument to the numerous political prisoners arrested after the intermittent but recurring unrest in black townships? Probably all these and more factors had been at play in determining how he would use the visual language he had developed, and in the eighties could so freely put into forms which were both universal symbols and signs of their time.

In discussing only one such a work, it must however be remembered that this is but an example of a whole series, in which various combinations were evolved - in some cases the composition is more like a portrait head, recalling the helmeted type of the mid­ sixties (cf. ill's. 34, 35: Astronaut, and Head). In other cases the organic figure emerges more strongly, so that the cage becomes more like a kind of mask. In a later phase the organic figure emerges completely, to become very powerfully anthropomorphic.

But Villa is the inveterate optimist, and soon the cage opens even more widely, and the "prison" bars disappear in 1984, when he explores the possibilities of combining small bronzes (cast from model Plasticene) in steel boxes. These images become less threatening, more intimate, as if bringing to form the private world each individual creates around himself (which could be a haven, a place of safety, a private space - but also a cage) (Open Door ill. 74). Not completely satisfied with the combination of bronze and steel, he further explored the possibilities of the open door theme, by using the pipe as an organic shape, in brighter colour, emerging form a framework of vertical sheets. Here he however returns again to more densely compacted masses, so that the figure and framework become as one, with less articulation of an inner space (The Door is open; ill. 75). Comparisons of these caged and uncaged works of Edoardo Villa with other contemporary sculptures or assemblages could show that he is equally involved in creating intensified awareness of the human condition as are for

96 instance Anthony Gormley (realistic lead figures; Archer, M: studio International, 196 (1004) 1984, or Edward and Nancy Kienholz (Curnow, W.: studio International 197 (1007) 1984) or Borovsky and Holzer (ibid. pp. 50, 51).

Villa's depictions of proud though troubled man are, however, a far cry from the remnants of people that young South African artist Johann Moolman was creating with bits of steel, moulded lead sheets (to give realistic details of head or hands) and a piece of woollen blanket. Even the title "Where to" is a cry of despair (fig. 23).

A brief phase in 1985 saw Villa building some large compositions using angled beams, cut up and assembled much as the groups of the seventies were - here, however, the assembled beams have hardly any figurative connotations, rather expressing a kind of explosion of diagonals.

After this short interlude, Villa again picked up the mainstream of his development in the eighties, returning to the theme of opening box which he had started exploring with some maquettes in 1982. Now in 1986 he was to create a series of non-figurative works which very clearly expressed the prevailing mood of militarism and aggression which seemed to prevail not only in South Africa, or even in Africa, but in many parts of the world; as he expressed it: "we are living in the gun barrel." (Exhib. cat. JAG, 1987)

In the Republic, a state of emergency was proclaimed; various trade sanctions were instituted against the country. Further north many civil wars raged - in Angola, Sudan, Ethiopia, and in Chad; Afghanistan was trying to repulse their Russian invaders.

In a series of "War Machines' (ill 76), Edoardo Villa opened up the "boxes" completely, transfixing them with diagonal pipes breaking through and out of a suggested cubic shape. These highly dynamic compositions seem to rest casualI} on odd projecting points not fixed to a base, as if they could be turned over in any direction, negating the strong pull of gravity - the earthbound quality, which had been previously such an important characteristic of Villa' oeuvre. Although they at first glance appear to be completely different to anything he had done before, it is revealing to compare them with the strongly gestural tensions inherent in the early "Figure with drapery" of 1953 (ill. 15), or with the tumbling bronze torsos of the late sixties (ill.'s 40, 42), as well as with the black pipe series of the mid-seventies (ill. 57). With the "War Machines" Villa completely broke away from vertical symmetrical compositions with densely grouped masses, and created ideograms with varied interlocking planes and lines. Using minimal means, he invested these works with tremendous vitality, even in their muted colouring which suggested the rusted patina of the late seventies. (They were shown at the Johannesburg Art Gallery in 1987, after the opening of the new enlarged wings.)

As with the "Prigionieri", these sculptures can be interpreted in a multitude of ways, with their connotations of non-specific tools of aggression (canon, Stalin organ, missiles, torpedos) or of the assailant transfixed with exploding missiles. One sculpture in the

97 75 series which is slightly more vertical, and in fact stand on a "foot" has been given the title of "st. Sebastian", recalling the 'martyr who in the 3rd century was ordered to be shot with arrows because of his Christian faith (Hall, 1976, p. 276). This sculpture can be seen at the entrance to the Johannesburg Art Gallery. Here again, the same type of formal invention can be read either as the aggressor or the victim. (John Coleman writes about the works of artist Richard Long " ••• meaning in art lies somewhere out between the artist's intentions and the viewer's interpretations." (studio International, 196 (1000), 1983).

Although Villa appears to continue individual evolution in his sculpture, he is nevertheless very much aware of developments in the art around him. He not only visits numerous exhibitions in Johannesburg and Pretoria, but also saw the 1984 Venice Biennale, and had his first experience of the American art world. In 1985, some of his work was shown at the Jack Gallery in New York.

As in Western Art generally, there is no one single direction to be recognized in the South African art scene. So in the same year, 1986, works as divergent as constructivist abstractions in bronze and steel are made by Ian Redelinghuys continuing the Anthony Caro approach, while at the same time Dr. Phatuma Seoka 'and his sons are producing lively organic wooden figures brightly painted and patterned in enamel colours - some of them unconcerned caricatures of South African types. Perhaps Villa can be seen as the unifying link, combining the interest in human vitality in works with a strong sense of harmonious, aesthetically satisfying form.

GROUP XV: 1986 - onwards

After the non-figurative phase of the "War Machines", Villa in 1986 also returned to more organic, largely anthropomorphic "figures" (ill. 77). The imprisoned creatures of 1983 seemed to have thrown off their retaining walls and stand proudly and self­ assured, in a kind of human-animal presence. The massive volumes of large-diameter pipes, globes, and various curved intersections are related to their more tightly structured, crystalline predecessors of the late sixties, (cf. ill's 36, 37) but seem to be invested with more "animal" vitality. This makes them at once more "out of Africa", but nonetheless embodiments of universal values. (A reviewer, CC, writes about the very different works of the Indian sculptor Dhruva Mistry, working in Britain: "He draws on Indian, Assyrian and Egyptian sources, referring to classical 'mythology and to all the species of religious, mythical and fantastical creatures which make up the bestiary of the human mind as it strives to reconcile its animality and its divinity". (Cc: studio International 198 (1011) 1985).

This series of "Metamorphosis" were all patinated with a slightly rusty effect, but in each case with the accent on a different shade, some being more blue, others red or ochre. Thus Villa's involvement with colour had been steadily maintained, and would, during the following year, lead to some daring experimentation in its combination with form. There is a striking resemblance between the works if this series of "Metamorphosis" and the powerful wooden

98 carvings of the selftaught artist Jackson Xidonkani Hlungwane (cf. fig. 24). Although starting from very different premises (Villa finding organic expressiveness in the manipulation of industrially fabricated steel units - Hlungwane expressing religious fervour by carving Biblical figures in organic wooden logs) and using very different techniques and materials (precisely finished steel welding - roughly hewn wood-carving) the works of both these artists emanate a strong vitality.

In the typical rhythmic sequence of opposites in his oeuvre, Villa again limits himself to using one formal element in the Minimalist vein of "less is more". In 1987 he takes sliced pipes of very large diameter, to create horizontal clusters. The open tubular shapes overlap in all directions, from certain views showing a closed form, others an open aspect. The interplay of inside-outside form is further enhanced by the strongly contrasting colours used for the interior-exterior walls of non-descriptive titles for such works, but gives mood-evoking names such as "Looking at the moon" and "Looking at the sun" (colI. PAG bought 1987). This interlude of limited form follows a pattern which started as early as 1959 with the use of only triangular strips (ill. 18), recurring in 1972 with only rectangular steel strips (ill's. 47, 46), again in 1975 only with pipes, (ill's 52, 53), and more recently in 1980 with either discs or beams (ill. 65).

Frustrated in his search for bronzecasters who could work at the speed and to the high standards he expects, Edoardo Villa in 1987 decided not to do any modelling for casting, but to use very thick steel pipes to create some small plantlike animal beings. The thickness of the metal gave the forms a solid quality, as if they had in fact been modelled. His inventive combinations of various intersecting sliced shapes gave rise to small creatures like delightful, though assertive, pets (ill. 78). These are made even more delightful by the bright colours which Villa has sensitively inserted on some inner surfaces, without breaking the unity of the whole.

During 1987 and well into 1988, Villa continued creating a very unusually extensive series of small to medium-sized single figures (from about 50 to 100 ems tall) using a wide variety of pipes, knobs, small spheres, curved planes, and discs (ill 79) (see: front cover). They either stand very upright (reminiscent of the machine­ parts torsos of the mid-sixties, but far less tightly composed) or sit or recline in a lively manner implying instant change of position, which Dr. Raymund van Niekerk describes as "Curving tubes (they) evoke the torsoes and limbs, stretched in sensual tension and display. A few, despite their imposing headgear, end up in positions of cornie self-exposure while others lie arched with desire." (cat. VILLA 80 Standard Bank Arts Festival 1988). Here again Villa has maintained his achievement of combining the solid static "being", with the ge_stural dynamic lines of "becoming".

Added to the lively, seemingly spontaneous compilation of varied formal elements is Villa's obvious enjoyment of the use of colour to lend.additional emphasis. Not only do the bright primary colours on inside surfaces accentuate the inside-outside dialogue and refer

99 to the sensuality of apertures (cf. Dr van Niekerk 1988 cat.), but in many cases a colour area is also carefully painted on an outside shape - the centre of a spherical protrusion, or a spike defining the angle of a curve. In his use of colour Villa has joined in the contemporary swing to bright colour in every cultural expression, be it in Post-Modern architecture or in ceramic or other painted sculpture. Villa's particular ability is to use a medium which is largely associated with the mechanical and technical, to create alive, organic, in fact even sensual creatures.

Early in 1988 he continues using these animated coloured steel shapes to create some pairs. Two figures tumble in freely vertical compositions, intertwined in apparently delirious ecstasy (ill. 80). Though the composition has a faint resemblance to the horse and rider theme, the mood is not at all related to that of dramatic tragedy immanent in the falling horse and rider groups of Marino Marini. (Villa admires the work of this sculptor, although it is so very different from his own.)

If the Basel Arts Fair (15 to 20 June 1988) could be taken as a general indication of the directions in contemporary sculpture, it can be seen that natural materials are again coming into their own with a swing to the use of clay and wood, where the working process can be followed in the marks left in the medium. This is in contrast to some minimal type works such as the installation of geometric shapes by Don Judd. However, realistic works (using body casts) also appear in sculpture tending to particular social comment (e.g. the parody on the classical Greek hero-charioteer by steve west, who made a painfully introverted nude figure seated on a wheelchair with oversized wheels) (Basel Arts Fair, exhib. cat.)

Also in South Africa the tendency to social comment and satire, sometimes based on urban decadence, at other times on traditional mystical beliefs, can be seen in the works of e.g. Andries Botha, Isolde Krams, David Brown, and Michelle Raubenheimer (cf. Cape Town Triennial 1988, exhib. cat.).

It might be considered insensitive of Edoardo Villa to have created such joyful, intensely alive works at a time when the people of South Africa are living through tense, difficult times, where terror, fear, anxiety and sometimes hope are part of everyday life, and many people of all groups are unsure of the future for themselves and for their children. That Villa is very much aware of the situation but has the quality of looking for, and believing in the positive, is affirmed by his sculpture no less than by his words: "But I still believe we live in a most exhilarating time in South Africa notwithstanding all the difficulties. As a matter of , fact, it is a Renaissance of South African Art. There will be an enormous amount of 'things' which will happen. Many of these issues we will not agree with. That is not important. We must be prepared for this. Time will pass and with time there will be peace." (interview with Prof. Alan Crump, cat. Sculpture by Edoardo Villa 1985 - 1987 JAG, 9.6 - 12.7.87).

100

SUMMARY

After the interruption of his rhythmic development of form and meaning by the large retrospective exhibition in 1980, Villa started off again working in non-figurative compositions. The retrospective exhibition had given him the unique opportunity of reassessing his whole oeuvre, and during the following seven years he was to incorporate many earlier formal devices into his further development, enriching his compositions and creating newly meaningful sYmbols.

Tall pipe figures in the early eighties were the return to figurative sculpture; particularly in 1981 and 1982 he created smaller playful figures in bright colours which both in position and composition broke out of earlier symmetrical and tightly geometric frameworks.

During the following five years (1982 to 1986) he was to create various series evolved around the shape of the box: either as non­ figurative composition, or as geometric cage which contained anthropomorphic organic creatures, or, as well, extended sheets transfixed by straight pipes to become war machines both aggressor and victim.

After 1986 the main stream of Villa I s development was again organic and anthropomorphic, with the creatures that escaped the cages now dominant and assertive. A new series of small zoomorphic, plantlike figures in thick steel sections are combined with a colour dialogue of interior-exterior. These were to lead to the creation of another series of playful giants to be completed during 1988.

At first glance Edoardo Villa's sculptures seem to follow only an inner development of their own; on closer examination of their context and content, however, it becomes clear that Villa is very much aware of the tensions underlying dai~y life in South Africa, just as he takes note of developments in contemporary art, absorbing them into his oeuvre where they could enhance his 'own creativity. '

CONCLUSION

Edoardo Villa continues unabatedly creating new works in his chosen medium, steel. Even as this additional chapter was being written, large new sculptures celebrating his freedom in the use of steel and paint were being completed by him and his loyal assistant of many years' standing, Lucas Lagode. Over the past forty seven years in South Africa, Villa created an unsurpassed body of work, in number, quality and scale. His works have become an integral part of the quality of space in and around buildings in many South African cities. It is therefore regrettable that he has not been able to make a name for himself outside his adopted home country. Political restrictions aside, this is in large part due to the very character of his works - their monumental size, which makes the cost of transport onerous.

101 In·spite of this limitation, any evaluation of his oeuvre will prove his enormous co~ribution to the art, and particular to the sculpture of South Africa. It is hoped that this study will have provided some of the basic material for future appreciation of this important enrichment of our cultural life.

102 LIST OF BLACK AND WHITE REPTRODUCTIONS OF VILLA'S SCULPTURE

SEQUENCE OF NOTATION OF PHOTOGRAPHS

Reproduction number title height in metres date owner / collection exhibitions references in literature

1. Relief for the Tacchini-Gibelli family marble ? m c. 1937 family tomb, Bergamo

2. Donizetti marble ± 2,89m c. 1937 colI. Bergamo, administration buildings

3. Quarenghi marble ± 2,89m c. 1937 colI. Bergamo, administration buildings

4. Colleoni marble ± 2,89m c. 1937 colI. Bergamo, administration buildings EV-Sc, fig. 2

5. La lotta per I' esistenza Plaster of Paris ? rn 1945 destroyed "Tra i Reticolati" April 1945, fig. p. 7 EV-Sc, small fig. 2

6. II Violinista bronze 0,64m c. 1943 colI. H. Berman fig. "Tra i Reticolati" exhib. Villa '80, cat. no. 3

7. Pensatore / il Tormento Plaster or Paris ± 2m c. 1943-44 destroyed "Tra i Reticolati" March and April 1944 both fig. no. 5

8. Fanciullo in riposo (il Pensiero) Plaster of Paris ? m c.1943 destroyed "Tra i Reticolati" Edizone speziale 2a mostra dei POG, Zonderwater, fig. 12 EV-Sc, fig. 3

9. Relief: mother and young woman Plaster of Paris ± 1,0 x 0,75m c. 1949 colI. unknown

10. st Apollonia cast stone ± 1,5m c. 1949 University of the witwatersrand Fassler, 1961, p. 247 EV-Sc, fig. 4

103 11. Sorrow Plaster of Paris 1949 colI. unknown Watter, 1967, fig. 16 Fassler, 1961, p. 245, no. 3 exhib. Edoardo Villa, Bothners Gallery, Nov. 1949

12. Seated figure Plaster of Paris 0,50m 1950 colI. mrs. L. Cohen 13. (Reclining) Figure Plaster of Paris ? m 1950-51 colI. unknown Fassler, 1961, p. 246 exhib. Gainsborough Gallery, 1950

14. Rhythmic Group cast iron 0,70m 1955 colI. J.E. Binder Fassler, 1961, p. 248 Watter, 1967, p. 3 fig. 7 EV-Sc, fig. 12 exhib. Venice Biennale, 1954 exhib. Villa '80, cat. no. 11

15. Figure with drapery bronze 1,F,4m 1953 colI. Schlesinger EV-Sc, fig. 11, p. 44 Exhib. Contemporary Artists' Society, Gallery Nicol, Pretoria, Oct. 1955, no. 23/24

16. phantasy in black (one section) Assailants (two parts together) iron I,26m and I,90m 1952 colI. S Axelrod EV-Sc, figs. 8,9 exhib. Comptemporary Artists' Society, Gallery Nicol, Pretoria, Oct. 1955 cat. no. 22 exhib. Villa, JAG, 1960 exhib. Villa '80, cat. no. 12

17. African Rhythm wrought iron 2,8m 1955/56 colI. artist Watter, 1967, fig. 9 Fassler, 1961, fig. p. 247 exhib. Sao Paolo, Biennale, 1957 exhib. Villa '80, cat. no. 14

18. Africa steel 6,75m 1959-60 Iscor, Pretoria Head Office SA Panorama, April 1960 p. 32 Industrial Architecture, June 1960 fig's. pp. 22, 24, 25 Construction in S.A., May 1960, p. 33 fig. EV-Sc, fig. 9 exhib. Milner Park, S.A. Pavillion, Rand Easter Show, 1960

104. 19. Winter steel 0,93m 1961 colI. N. Herber Watter, 1966, p. 62 with fig. Watter, 1967, p. 4, fig. 16 EV-Sc, fig. 20 exhib. Adler Fielding Gallery, 1962 exhib. S.A. Art Today, SANG exhib. Villa '80, cat. no. 50

20. Growing Form bronze 1,75m 1957 colI. H. Berman EV-Sc, colour fig. 11 exhib. : Villa '80, cat. no. 25

21. Impressions of Spring brass and copper ? m 1961 colI. in London

22. Cathedral steel 1,05m c. 1958 colI. National Museum of Zimbabwe EV-Sc, figs. 17, 18

23. Pregnant Form bronze 1,26m 1961 colI. G.S. Sennett exhib. Villa '80, cat. no. 55

24. African Chief (Atmosfera Africana) steel a,91m 1963 colI. SANG inv. no. 63/34 cat. 1970 exhib. XXXII Biennale Internazionale d'Arte, Venice 1964, cat. no. 115

25. and 26. Heraldic Figure 1 front and back steel ± 0,60m 1962 colI. unknown EV-Sc, figs. 17, 28

27. Orange SCUlpture steel 2,17m c. 1966 colI. A. Goodman EV-Sc, fig. 53, p. 84 exhib. Villa '80, cat. no. 91

28. African Virgin steel O,85m 1963 call. V. Meneghelli Watter, 1967, fig. 21 EV-Sc, fig. 35 exhib. Villa '80, cat. no. 62

29. Mapogga Woman bronze 2,15m c. 1964 colI. African Eagle Life Insurance Co. Watter, 1967, p. 5 fig. 28 EV-Sc, fig. 39 exhib. Villa '80, cat. no. 68

30. African Head bronze 0,64m 1960 call. E. Guenther Watter, 1967, p. 5 and fig. 27 EV-Sc, fig. 42

105 31. African Guardian steel 1,57m 1966 colI. artist Watter, 1967, figs. 34, 35 Watter, Ons Kuns III, p. 62, fig. II EV-Sc, fig. 63 exhib. Villa '80, cat. no. 82

32. Relief steel ? m c. 1962 colI. unknown (previously I. Fraser-Jones) Watter, 1966, p. 27 with fig. EV-Sc, fig. 24

33. Athlete steel l,20m c. 1965 colI. M. Herman EV-Sc, fig. 23 p. 191

34. Astronaut II steel O,94m 1966 colI. D.F. van Blerk watter, 1966, p. 29, fig. p. 30 EV-Sc, fig. 54

35. Head steel 0,80m 1966 colI. A. Goodman Watter, 1967, pp. 5-6, fig. 33a EV-Sc, fig. 49, 50 exhib. Villa '80, cat. no. 86

36. Vertical steel 3,15m 1968 colI. artist EV-Sc, fig. 73 exhib. Schlesinger Building, 1968 exhib. Villa '80, cat. no. 100

37. Horizontal (IV) steel 2,45m 1968 colI. N. Herber EV-Sc, fig. 77 exhib. : Edoardo Villa 1960 - 1970 JAG, PAG cat. no. 34 exhib. Villa '80, cat. no. 98

38. Vertical Monument I bronze 0,35m 1968, colI. I. Feinstein EV-Sc, fig. 71 exhib. Edoardo Villa 1960 - 1970, cat. no. 39 exhib. Villa '80, cat. no. 105

39. Seated Figure steel 2,80m 1970 colI. Life Building, Anglo-American Properties EV-Sc, small frg. 54

40. Group bronze O,28m 1969 colI. B.R. Press EV-Sc, fig. 41 (incorrectly numbered) exhib. Villa '80, cat. no. 110

106 41. Reclining Figure bronze 1,72m 1969 Hyde Park Centre EV-Sc, fig. 70, p. 101 (maquette : exhib. Villa 'SO, cat. no. 121)

42. Group I bronze 1,17m c. 1969 colI. Schlesinger, University of the Witwatersrand EV-Sc, fig. 42 or 43 exhib. Villa 'SO, cat. no. 117

43. Seated Figure steel 1,75m 1969/1970 colI. artist EV-Sc, fig. SI

44. Tri-Form steel 4,Om 1971 colI. TGI, Johannesburg exhib. Villa '76, cat. no. 2

45. Group steel 2,Om c. 1972 colI. H. Flekser EV-Sc, fig. 92 exhib. Viila 'SO, cat. no. 151

46. Vertical Movement I steel 4,55m 1973 call. artist EV-Sc, fig. 101 exhib. Villa '76, cat. no. 12 exhib. Villa 'SO, cat. no. 170

47. Environmental Sculpture steel 2,15m 1972 colI. artist EV-Sc, fig. 9S exhib. Villa '76, cat. no. S exhib. Villa 'SO, cat. no. 156

4S. Interlocking Forms steel 2,27m 1972 call. RAU EV-Sc, fig. 99 exhib. Villa '76, cat. no. 7 exhib. Afrox Metal Art '76, colour fig. 4 exhib. Villa 'SO, cat. no. 164

49. Untitled steel 1,25m 1972 call. R. Givon EV-Sc, fig. 95 exhib. Villa 'SO, cat. no. 146

50. Seated Form steel 3,32m 1972, coIl. artist EV-Sc, small fig. 51 exhib. Villa '76, cat. no. 9 exhib. Villa 'SO, cat. no. 153

107 51- The Meeting steel 3,80m 1976 colI. RAU EV-Sc, figs. 120, 121 exhib. Villa '76, cat. no. 33 exhib. Villa '80, cat. no. 202 exhib. Afrox Metal Art '76, colour fig. 3 ; p. between 4-5

52. Homage to an architect steel 3,92m 1975 colI. Rembrandt Tabacco Corp. EV-Sc, fig. 122 exhib. Villa '76, cat. no. 21

53. Orange Involvement steel 4,85m 1974 ooLl , RAU EV-Sc, fig. 114 exhib. Villa '76, cat. no. 17 exhib. Villa '80, cat. no. 187

54. Suspended Penetration steel (painted red) O,80m 1977 colI. artist exhib. Villa '80, cat. no. 226

55. Suspended Vertical steel 1,07m 1976/77 colI. Warmbaths, Hotwater Baths EV-Sc, fig. 123

56. Group steel 4,45m 1967, colI. Wesbank EV-Sc, small fig. 65 exhib. Villa '80, cat. no. 207

57. Black Group steel 2,05m 1976 coLl, , RAU EV-Sc, small fig. 64 exhib. Villa '80, cat. no. 205

58. Group bronze 0,31m 1978 colI. G.S. Sennett EV-Sc, small fig. 67 exhib. Villa '80, cat. no. 236

59. Confrontation steel tallest figure 4,23m 1978 colI. Lifegro Insurance, Sandton EV-Sc, figs. 124, 125, colour fig. XXIV exhib. Villa '80 cat. no. 254

60. Reunion steel 2,43m 1978 colI. Lifegro Insurance Co. EV-Sc, fig. 127

61. Figure I steel 2,llm 1978 colI. R. Givan EV-Sc, fig. 129 exhib. Villa '80, cat. no. 224

108 62. detail: Confrontation see no. 59

63. Tilted Figure steel 2,45m 1979, 1980 colI. artist exhib. Villa '80, cat. no. 262

64. The Last to arrive steel 4,35m 1978/79 colI. Liberty Life Group, Braamfontein EV-Sc, colour fig. XXI exhib. Villa '80, cat. no. 261

65. Separate Elliptic Forms steel 0,67m 1980 colI. artist exhib. Goodman Gallery, 1981

66. Red Progression I steel red colour 0,83m 1980 colI. artist exhib. Goodman Gallery, 1981

67. Big Falling Forms steel ochre patina 2,06m 1980 colI. artist exhib. Goodman Gallery, 1981, cat. no. 17

68. Tre Personaggi steel painted black, tallest figure 4,5m 1981 colI. Premier Milling, Johannesburg

69. "Boy" detail steel and stainless steel 2,Om 1981-82 colI. African Oxygen

70. Maquette for Durban sculpture bronze 0,45m 1981 colI. Linda Goodman

71. Reclining Figure red painted steel 0,43m 1982 colI. SASOL Johannesburg exhib. SASOL Art Collection, RAU 1988

72. Flight steel 2,71m 1983 colI. artist

73. Cage III or: Serie del Prigioniero steel 3,20m 1983 colI. Pretoria Art Museum exhib. wits University 1984 exhib. Villa 10, Volkskas 50 Years, Pretoria 1984

74. Open Door steel and Plaster of Paris 2,60m 1984 colI. artist

75. The Door is open steel painted patina 1,07m 198~ colI. Carmen Beck exhib. Edoardo Villa 1985 - 1987 Johannesburg Art Gallery 1987

76. Expanding War Machine steel 2,30m 1986 colI. artist exhib. Edoardo Villa 1985 - 1987 Jhb. Art Gallery, 1987

109 77. Metamorphosis III steel 2,70m 1986 colI. artist exhib. Edoardo Villa 1985 - 1987 Jhb. Art Gallery, 1987

78. zoomorphic VI steel colour patina 0,30m 1987 colI. P. Joubert exhib. Edoardo Villa 1985 - 1987 Jhb. Art Gallery 1987 cat. no. 34

79. Encounter with colour steel painted 0,64m 1987/88 colI. artist exhib. Villa 88 Standard Bank Arts Festival Grahamstown 1988 cat. no. 5

80. Encounter with colour steel painted colour 0,64m 1988 colI. artist exhib. villa 88 Standard Bank Arts Festival Grahamstown 1988 cat. no. 18

COLOUR REPRODUCTION

FRONT PAGE COVER:

ENCOUNTER WITH COLOUR (19) steel painted 0,80m 1988 colI. artist exhib. Villa 88 Standard Bank Arts Festival Grahamstown 1988 cat. no. 19

no BIBLIOGRAPHY

A

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F

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Jeppe, H.: SCUlpture in South Africa, The Red Carpet, JUly, 1964.

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114 K

Keesing's contemporary Archives, 18 sept. - 5 Oct. 1968.

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Marshall, N.: Robert Murray's Sculpture, Art International, XXIII (7), October 1979, pp.

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117 w

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118 2

-,. -

4 5

7

6 8

8

11 12

r 13

14 15 16

18

20 21

22 23

24 ADDITIONAL REPRODUCTIONS FOR COMPARISON are indicated in the text by (fig..•. )

Where no source is indicated, the print has been made from a photograph card in the Documentation section of the Department of History of Art at the Rand Afrikaans University.

Information has been arranged in the following sequence: fig. no. artist: title, medium, height of measurements date owner eXhibitions, references (source of reproduction)

1. A. Wildt: cesare Battisti (monumento della Vittoria a Bolzano) (Springer & Ricci, 1943, fig. 690) .

2. Coert Steynberg: Barto1omeus Dias granite 1934 colI. London, South Africa House (Bosman, 1938, p. 105, fig. LXXX;Bosman, 1968, fig. LXXX)

3. Moses Kottler: Staande Vrouefiguur djati wood, O,71m 1936 private colI. Stellenbosch - retrospect. :Moses Kottler, 1974, cat. no. 37

4. Georg Kolber: Grosse Wachter (pinder, 1937, fig. p. 75)

5. Zoltan Borbereki: Geboe torso 0,195m 1946 colI. B.L. Kramer, Johannesburg.

6. Zoltan Borbereki: Afrika wood 0,516m 1953 colI. Durban Art Museum

7. Christo Coetzee: Portrait of my sister oil on canvas 0,395 X 0,337m 1952 colI. Kimberley, William Humphreys Museum.

8. Moses Kottler: Meisie met vlegse1 bronze (date not known) col l . Sanlam, Cape Town, exhib. Sanlam colI. Pretoria, PAG, 1978, no. 25 (fig. PAG).

9. Lucas sithole: Township Dance wood 0,42m 1961 coLl . Mr and Mrs B. Saffer, Germiston (Haenggi, 1929 fig. p. 23, no. LS6104)

119 10. Nel Erasmus: White still-life 0,80 x O,50m 1960 colI. Graaf-Reinet, Hester Rupert Museum, cat. no. 27.

11. Bruce Arnott: Head ciment fondu 0,38m 1964 colI. SANG, Cape Town, inv. no. 64/33, cat. 1970, acquisition 1964.

12. Sydney Kumalo: Dancing Woman bronze O,38m 1967 coLl . Egon Guenther Gallery, Johannesburg (in 1968) (Janse van Rensburg, 1970, fig. 80, p. 90, cat. no. 111)

13. African Art: Kneeling Figure, Luba-Zaire, Kifwebe Hood O,55m colI. Ethnological Museum, University of the witwatersrand.

14. Louis Ie Seuer: Vrouekop no. 2 polished bronze 0,24m 1969 colI. Pretoria Art Museum (fig. PAG) inv. no. 72/6

15. Geoffrey Armstrong: Paternal Father and Daughter Cl ipsham stone l,55m c. 1970 colI. N. Herber (Gray, 1971, fig. p , 27)

16. Ian Redelinghuys: F1ingle Wet brass 0,242m 1974(?) colI. Durban Art Museum, inv. no. 1896 (acquisition 1975)

17. Mike Edwards: Dunbar stainless steel 1,84m 1975 exhib. Mike Edwcrds, RAU, 1979, cat. no. 20

18. Malcolm Payne: AB I steel, 1,74m 1976 exhib. Afrox Metalart 76, RAU, 1976, cat. no. 49.

19. Geoffrey Armstrong: (no title supplied) wood and metal 1976(?) exhib. Johannesburg, Getrude Posel Gallery, 1976 (S.A. Kunskalender, 1(6), July 1976, fig. p , 1).

20. Knut Albrecht: Johannesburg Fragment II sandstone 2, 40m 1978 coLl . RAU acquired 1980, inv. no. 186; exhib. Knut Albrect, RAU, 1978, cat. no. 2

120 21. Ian Redelinghuys: (vortex) Untitled steel 1,43m 1979 (7) coLl , artist a loan to RAU sculpture Garden, 1981 exhib. Five Sculptors, an exhibition of metal sculpture (sponsor : Afrox 1980, SANG, Grahamstown, JAG, PAG).

22. Willem Strydom: Bennox steel, cast iron and railway sleeper, 2,264m 1976 colI. JAG inv. no. S81.

23. Moolman, Johann: Waarheen steel and woollen blanket 164cm 1985 exhib. Johann Moolman, RAU, 1985.

24. Hlungwane, Jackson: Seth wood 210cm 1982, colI. P. Rich Johannesburg exhib. Enkele rigtings in hedendaagse beeldhouwerk, RAU, 1987

121