VILLA, Edoardo Daniele

Artist

Edoardo Daniele Villa was a notable South African sculptor of Italian descent who worked primarily in steel and bronze.

Villa was born in Bergamo, Italy and he studied at the Andrea Fontini Art School. While studying sculpture in Milan, in 1939, Villa was conscripted for two years into the Italian army at the outbreak of World War II. By 1940 he was posted to the North African front, where he was injured and captured in Egypt by the British forces. Some time between 1941 and 1942, he was shipped to South Africa where he then spent the next four years at the Zonderwater prisoner of war camp on the eastern outskirts of Pretoria. Zonderwater was opened in February 1941 and by the end of 1942 held 63 000 prisoners under the care of Colonel H.F. Prinsloo, whose head was later sculpted in bronze by Villa for the military museum. Villa had been given some access to art materials at Zonderwater, and produced a small number of works during his internment. After his release, Villa remained in South Africa where he continued his vocation as a sculptor.

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List of projects

With photographs
With notes

House Morgenstern: 1955. Linksfield Ridge, Johannesburg, Gauteng - Artist

Killarney Hills: n.d.. Killarney, Johannesburg, Gauteng - Artist

Books citing VILLA

Berman, Esmé. 1983. Art and artists of South Africa: An illustrated biographical dictionary and historical survey of painters, sculptors and graphic artists since 1875. Cape Town : Balkema. pp 14, 15, 16 ill, 22, 31, 32 ill, 47, 49, 106, 220, 227, 300, 301, 339, 370, 372, 375, 382, 394, 395+ill, 396 ill, 413 ill, 414 ill, 447, 463, 475, 494 ill pop, 514, 515, 516, 517, 518

Nel, Karel (ed), Burroughs, Elizabeth. 2005. Villa at 90 : his life, work, and influence. Johannesburg: Jonathan Ball. pp All