DEATH OF EDOARDO VILLA

(Courtesy of Art South Africa: http://www.artsouthafrica.com/)

One of South Africa's greatest artists, Edoardo Villa passed away on May 1 at the age of 95. (via smac art gallery)

"Edoardo Villa was born in Bergamo, Italy, in 1915 and studied at the prestigious Scuola d'Arte Andrea Fantoni in Milan. During the course of his studies, he was conscripted into the army at the outbreak of World War II and his first experience of South Africa was as a prisoner of war in 1942. After his release, Villa found himself unable to leave the country he had grown to love, and so remained in South Africa to pursue a career as a sculptor.

Villa's oeuvre reveals both his European origin and his personal experience of Africa. His sculptures, many of them permanently embedded in his adopted homeland, embody his brilliance and spirit. He exhibited widely throughout the country and internationally in Italy, Germany, France, England, Israel, Namibia, South America and the United States. The technical and formal originality evident in his use of materials earned Villa international acclaim and his work has also been chosen to represent South Africa at the Venice Biennale on five occasions. Villa's most famous public sculpture in South Africa is the red Knot at the entrance to the Civic Centre in Cape Town.

Edoardo Villa was also a member of the self-titled Amadlozi Group started in 1961 along with the late Cecil Skotnes, Guiseppe Cattaneo, Cecily Sash and Sydney Kumalo. The group exhibited extensively both locally and in Europe.

Villa remained one of the great gentlemen and endearing personalities in South African art and is considered to be one of the most influential artists of the South African abstract movement. In 1995, to celebrate his 80th birthday, the Edoardo Villa Museum was officially opened at the University of Pretoria.

The funeral will take place at 11h00 on May 5, in the Mater Dolorosa Catholic Church in Kensington, Johannesburg. "