Pensive

In Emma de Sigaldi’s work, it is the material itself, in all its figurative power, that is sought. From the 1980s onwards, the artist devoted herself to the search for forms and refined her technique in marble and bronze. Into these noble materials she poured her emotions and thoughts, giving them physical, tactile form. Sculpted directly in pink marble, this reclining female figure is highly stylised. From the balance between figuration and the quest for pure lines, volumes emerge. Emma de Sigaldi does not seek realism. For the artist, the material conveys the power of thought. .

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.