Emmanuel VILLANIS
1858–1914, France

Sculptor Emmanuel Villanis was born in Lille, December 12, 1858 of Italian parents. After the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, in March 1861, the Villanis returned to their country and settled in Piedmont. From 1871 to 1880, Emmanuel was a student at the Academy of Fine Arts Albertina in Turin where he studied with master sculptor Odoardo Tabacchi (1831-1905). Upon his graduation, he exhibited his first works in several cities in Italy. For example, the bust Alda, in Milan in 1881. In 1885, Emmanuel Villanis finally returned to France to live and work in Montmartre, a district of Paris which he did not leave until his death on August 28, 1914. In the nineteenth century, exhibiting at the Salon des Artistes French was vital for a sculptor in terms of getting known and gaining commissions. Between 1886 and 1910, Villanis participated eleven times at the Salon. His seventeen sculptures exhibited include the four busts Nerina (Salon of 1887); Galatee (Salon of 1894); Mignon (Salon of 1896); Judith (Salon of 1898) In 1892, he received an Honorable Mention for the two plaster statues he presented: Mlle Bob Walter Dans Son Repertoire et Madeleine Au Passage Du Christ. Villanis had already received the same award in 1889, the Universal Exhibition in Paris for the statue The Souriciere. Four years later, at the Universal Exhibition in Chicago, he sent two busts: Europe and East.

Source: www.aspireauctions.com