The work of Monegasque artist Emma de Sigaldi is a constant search for forms, between figuration and the quest for pure lines. Her style evolved during the course of the 1960s. Her terracotta sculpture La Mère marked the beginnings of a more formal approach to her art, and this similarly-them...
The work of Monegasque artist Emma de Sigaldi is a constant search for forms, between figuration and the quest for pure lines. Her style evolved during the course of the 1960s. Her terracotta sculpture La Mère marked the beginnings of a more formal approach to her art, and this similarly-themed bronze piece, Maternité, cast in 1966, is perhaps the apotheosis of that evolution. The sculpture represents a mother with two children. The newborn in her arms and the young boy by her side express their confidence, forming a harmonious ensemble. The power of the material, the smooth bronze, and the graceful and slender silhouettes capture the solidity of the sculptural group and the family group. Emma de Sigaldi collaborates with the Fonderia Artistica Battaglia in Milan, the workshop that cast the famous Plongeur in 1961.
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, 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 vision, 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.
