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Edoardo Villa and The Museum...
Edoardo Villa and the Museum at the University of
Pretoria
Edoardo Villa's association with the University of Pretoria spans many years. As
external examiner in the Department of Fine Arts he has made a valuable
contribution to the extension of particularly the sculpture courses. He
initiated a bursary fund for sculpture students, which is named after him.
The University bestowed on him the Chancellor's Medal of the University of
Pretoria and later a honorary professorship in recognition of his stature as
artist.
 He
confirmed his benevolent association with the University firstly by donating
several large steel sculptures which are exhibited on the campus and later by
his decision to donate an important part of his creative work to the University.
These pieces, 143 in total, have been incorporated into the Edoardo Villa Trust
and are on permanent display in the Edoardo Villa Museum. This museum was
specially designed and furnished by Uwe Günther for this purpose, through the
mediation of, in particular, Dr Viktor Hesse and two previous Principals, Profs.
Danie Joubert and Flip Smit.
The Edoardo Villa Museum is an important addition to the University's art
posessions. Together with the Van Wouw collection it places the University in
the enviable position of owning collections of two of South Africa's foremost
sculptors.
These collections and the other extensive art collections owned by the
University of Pretoria are important resources for research not only by students
of the University but also for artists and art historians in general.
The museum was opened on 31 May 1995, on Edoardo Villa's 80th birthday. It is
situated on the main campus of the University of Pretoria in the Old Merensky
Library. The foundation stone for this historical building was laid in 1937 by
General Jan Smuts, then Prime Minister. In 1939 the building, designed by the
renowned South African architect Gerard Moerdyk, was inaugurated and in 1991
declared a National Monument, thereby restricting the design possibilities for
its conversion into the present museum, which was done by Fritz-Uwe Günther.
After being used for its intended purpose until the new library was completed,
the building housed the Department of Fine Arts and later served as a 24-hour
study centre.
As many students link memories to this particular place on the University's
campus, it seems especially appropriate that the magnificent volume now also
houses the spirit of Edoardo Villa's sculpture. 'These strong, solid and silent
works stand in a soaring interior of gleaming wood, marble, and granite. The
museum's muted colours of beige, grey and white are a remarkable foil for the
sculptures with their tones of dull bronze, their patinas of rust, green and
iron black. [ ... ] They suggest self-possession, equilibrium, rest and poise.
They fill the museum with an atmosphere almost ancient in its silence and
stillness.' (Muffin Stevens, Lantern, Spring 1995.)
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