Le Plongeur immortalises the precise moment at which the bather prepares to make a swan dive. Perched on the tips of its toes, the towering figure perfectly embodies both tension and grace. The diver’s outstretched arms are evocative of the crucifixion. One of Emma de Sigaldi’s best known wor...
Le Plongeur immortalises the precise moment at which the bather prepares to make a swan dive. Perched on the tips of its toes, the towering figure perfectly embodies both tension and grace. The diver’s outstretched arms are evocative of the crucifixion. One of Emma de Sigaldi’s best known works, the statue was created in 1961 in Italy, at a ceramic workshop in Camporosso. The mould was shipped to the Fonderia artistica Battaglia in Milan and the statue then carried to its present site. The task of installing this monumental piece posed something of a challenge, owing to the way in which its weight is distributed. The diver is standing slightly off-balance on tiptoe, and the design cleverly incorporates a steel bar set inside the statue itself, which affixes it to the plinth. The statue was installed opposite the Stade Nautique Rainier III, which was opened on 19 August 1961 by Prince Rainier III and Princess Grace.
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 The Olympic Diver at the Rainier III Outdoor Swimming Stadium (1961). Already, however, the terracotta Mother, 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 through 25 years of the Monegasque artists’ 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.
