Emmanuel Villanis

"Seated Oriental Woman"

Sculpture in bronze with a double patina depicting an oriental maiden with a turban, signed "Villanis"

Misure: 59,4x35.5x28 cm.

EMMANUEL VILLANIS (Lille, 1858 - Paris, 1914)

Emmanuel Villanis came from a family of Italian origin. From 1861 his parents returned to Italy to settle in Piedmont. They had fled from Italy due to the war of independence, under the threat of Napoleon Bonaparte. In 1871 the artist enrolled at the Albertina Academy of Fine Arts in Turin; here followed the teaching of the sculptor Odoardo Tabacchi (1831-1905). At the end of his studies, his teacher encouraged him to exhibit: his bust Alda, for example, was presented in Milan in 1881.

In 1885 Villanis moved to Montmartre, a district of Paris he never left.

The artist's fame is based on his production of female figures. Aida, Judith, Dalilah, Lucrezia, Cinderella: her work brings together the great heroines of opera, literature, mythology and the Bible. Villanis also deals with some types, the Bohemian, the châtelaine or the Parisian, and several allegories.

Made mainly of bronze, sometimes chryselephantine, his sculptures subtly bear the mark of Art Nouveau, including the inscription of the title, which regularly adorns the base. His play on patinas adds further finesse to the line, making Villanis one of the greatest sculptors of Art Nouveau. As for the casting of bronzes, he worked mainly with the Société des Bronzes de Paris and with Eugène Blot.

Exhibited eleven times at the Salon of French artists between 1886 and 1910, Villanis also participated in the 1889 Universal Exposition in Paris and that of Chicago in 1903.