20th Nov, 2024 19:00
20th Century & Contemporary Art
12
Edoardo Villa (South Africa 1915-2011)
Maquette for Traverse
steel sculpture
Artwork date: circa. 1956-57
Sold for R117,250
Estimated at R80,000 - R120,000
Condition Report
The overall condition is good.
Minor surface dirt along the crevices.
Please note, we are not qualified conservators and these reports give our opinion as to the general condition of the works. We advise that bidders view the lots in person to satisfy themselves with the condition of prospective purchases.
steel sculpture
Artwork date: circa. 1956-57
(1)
35 x 17 x 137 cm
Provenance:
Private collection, Johannesburg.
Acquired directly from the artist.
ABOUT THE ARTWORK
Maquette for Traverse was created circa the late 1950s in preparation for one of the largest sculptures ever produced by Edoardo Villa, his magnificent Traverse (1957).
Notably, in 1957, Villa was selected to represent South Africa at the São Paulo Biennale in Brazil where he received an Honourable Mention. That same year, the artist’s work was included in an exhibition of South African Art that toured several cities in the United States of America and a group show at the Helen de Leeuw Gallery in Johannesburg. Remarkably, Traverse was produced two years before Villa’s monumental Africa. Similar to Africa, it is a welded piece constructed from a series of intersecting flat and curved planes of steel. The use of steel broke away from the labour-intensive processes of conventional clay modelling and bronze casting. This new material enabled the bold forms and spiky shapes with which he forged a new aesthetic, referencing both the stark African landscape and art from this continent. The use of steel would not only mark a change in aesthetic, but allowed Villa to create larger-scale works, complimenting the growing development of local urban architecture and celebrating the innovations made possible by a rapidly growing local steel industry at that time. Traverse (1957) was sold at Aspire Art’s September 20th Century and Contemporary Art sale in 2020 at more than double the low estimate at a remarkable R 4 894 089.97.
Traverse (1957), shaped steel plates, painted and mounted on a
base with castors, 98 x 42 x 562.5 cm, sold at Aspire Art in 2020
for R 4 894 089.97.
COLLECTIONS:
The artist is represented in numerous local and international collections, notably, the Rupert Museum, Stellenbosch; Edoardo Villa Museum, Pretoria; Rand Merchant Bank, Johannesburg; Norval Foundation, Cape Town; Javett Art Centre, Pretoria; Iziko South African National Gallery; Sanlam Art Collection, Johannesburg; Johannesburg Art Galler; University of Cape Town; Durban Art Gallery; The South African Reserve Bank, Johannesburg; University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg; Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA), Cape Town and the Standard Bank Gallery, Johannesburg.
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Auction: 20th Century & Contemporary Art, 20th Nov, 2024
HIGHLIGHTS
Currency conversions are based on the exchange rate at the auction's start time and date. Bidders should verify the current exchange rate on the day of the sale. All invoices and payments must be made in South African Rands.
IMPORTANT NOTICE:
Logistics
While we endeavour to assist our Clients as much as possible, we require artwork(s) to be delivered and/or collected from our premises by the Client. In instances where a Client is unable to deliver or collect artwork(s), Aspire staff is available to assist in this process by outsourcing the services to one of our preferred Service Providers. The cost for this will be for the Client’s account, with an additional Handling Fee of 15% charged on top of the Service Provider’s invoice.
Aspire Art provides inter-company transfer services for its Clients between Johannesburg and Cape Town branches. These are based on the size of the artwork(s), and charged as follows:
Small (≤60x90x10 cm): R480
Medium (≤90x120x15 cm): R960
Large (≤120x150x20 cm): R1,440
Over-size: Special quote
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Collection/delivery ≤20km: R400
Collection/delivery 20km>R800≤50km
Collection/delivery >50km: Special quote
Packaging
A flat fee of R100 will be added to the invoice for packaging of unframed works on paper.
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For buyers from outside South Africa, we will keep the artworks you have purchased in storage during the year and then ship all the works you have acquired during the year together, so the shipping costs are reduced. At the end of the annual period, we will source various quotes to get you the best price, and ship all your artworks to your desired address at once.
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Handling Fee
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