Statue bust of nymph emmanuel villanis 1858-1914

Large bust of 56 cm of nymph emmanuel villanis 1858-1914. Terracotta with bronze patina. Emmanuel villanis comes from a family of italian origin. In 1861, his parents returned to italy to settle in piedmont. They had fled italy because the war of independence broke out, under the threat of napoleon bonaparte. In 1871, the artist enrolled at the albertina academy of fine arts in turin; there he studied under the sculptor odoardo tabacchi (1831-1905). At the end of his studies, his master pushed him to exhibit: his bust alda, for example, was presented in milan in 1881. In 1885, villanis moved to montmartre, a district of paris that he never left. The artist's fame is built on his production of female figures. Aida, judith, dalila, lucretia, cinderella: her work brings together the great heroines of opera, literature, mythology and the bible. Villanis also tackles certain types – the bohemian, the châtelaine, or the parisienne – and several allegories, including la peinture and la sculpture. Made mainly of bronze, sometimes chryselephantine, his sculptures subtly bear the mark of art nouveau, including the lettering of the title, which regularly adorns the base. His play on patinas adds to the finesse of the line, making villanis one of the major sculptors of art nouveau. As for the casting of bronzes, he works mainly with the société des bronzes de paris and with eugène blot. Exhibited eleven times at the salon des artistes français between 1886 and 1910, villanis also participated in the universal exhibition of 1889 in paris, and that of chicago in 1903.