Notes

The Family, constructed from steel, is an excellent example of the sculptures that Edoardo Villa created in the early sixties. At this time he was developing an expressive vocabulary that both acknowledged his European heritage, taking cognisance of the modernist explorations of form and abstraction while also devising a more local iconography inspired by African cattle horns and thorn trees.

Angular shapes cut from steel are combined to suggest the elements of a family – complex relationships, lively engagements, similarities and distinctions. Through the superb interplay of dramatic form and light, some elements advance while others are submerged in the shadows – as often happens in family situations.

Literature

Lola Watter, ‘Edoardo Villa’ in Heine Toerien and Georges Duby (Editors), Our Art 3, Pretoria, n.d., pages 61 – 65, illustrated.