Fontaine Joyeux

The works of Emma de Sigaldi show a harmony of form, but without ever straying into strict formalism. By carefully destructuring and creating irregularities, the artist forges a dialogue between the water and the material. This sculpture, worked in bronze wire, rests on a steel box that conceals a water supply system. Propelled through the box’s nozzles, four jets of water traverse the centre of the sculpture, filling the empty space with aquatic designs.

Emma de Sigaldi, born Emma Lackner in Karlsruhe (Germany) on 22 December 1910, was a Monegasque artist. She first devoted herself to dance in her home town and later in Dresden, with the illustrious Mary Wigman. Appointed as a senior dancer at the Munich Opera, she then went on to open a dance school in Wiesbaden. She trained in sculpture through contact with the Bauhaus masters, and later continued to teach herself.
In 1954, she married Count de Sigaldi, the Captain of the Palace Guards, and moved to Monaco. Her first solo exhibition was held in 1960. In her studio, she focused primarily on figures sculpted in line with an expressionist view, such as Le Plongeur Olympique at the Rainier III Outdoor Swimming Stadium (1961). Already, however, the terracotta La Mère, sculpted the same year, heralded what would become the artist’s new approach to her work. Beginning in the 1970s, Sigaldi produced marble sculptures in natural shapes, which reflected the influence of Arp and Moore.
In 1983, a retrospective under the high patronage of Prince Rainier III traced the progression of 25 of the Monegasque artist’s sculptures. Many of her works can be found in public and private collections in Monaco and throughout the world. Emma de Sigaldi died in Monaco on 23 October 2010.