Graham Beck was a keen art collector and is notable for his support of world renowned sculptor Edoardo Villa whose works are proudly displayed not just at Steenberg but at its sister wineries in Franschhoek and Robertson too.

 

Villa was born near Bergamo in northern Italy in 1915. His artistic talent was obvious from an early age and he studied basic sculpture techniques at the Scuola d’arte Andrea Fantoni. Prior to heading off to Milan to continue his art studies he was conscripted into Mussolini’s Italian army after the outbreak of World War II. Some of his conscription period was spent in Rome, time he used to good effect, examining the numerous wonderful statues on public display.

He was wounded in action in North Africa, captured by English forces and sent to South Africa as one of around 70 000 Italian prisoners-of-war interned in this country. Villa looks on his four years as a POW at Zonderwater camp as productive: he began sculpting again – and also fell in love with South Africa and its people. Everything had already been done in Europe, he once stated in an interview, while in Africa there was an openness and the potential to experiment and do new, fresh things.

His influences ranged from Rodin and Picasso through to African mysticism and he is renowned for his use of steel. Curator of the Beck collection Julia Meintjies said this initially began with an experimentation in using scrap metal, bronze and welding in the 50′s and 60′s and grew, as did his creativity and output. “Mr Beck bought many of the works from an exhibition that was held at Lanzerac in the 90′s,” Meintjies said. The Ambassador piece on display in the Steenberg tasting room is an example not only from the 60′s but also of his clever use of found materials, notably machinery and industrial scrap.

The use of bright vibrant colour along with his stylised abstractions is something Villa became known for in the 80′s – believing that colour was a way of translating mood – either levity or light-heartedness or a brooding intensity. Art experts are of the opionion that the sculptures show an “acute awareness of his environment – natural, social and political – as well as a considered insight into contemporary art-making, tempered by and understanding of the global context”. (Von Maltitz and Nel, ‘Edoardo Villa: a life considered’)

An extremely prolific sculptor, many of Villa’s works are also on public display in Johannesburg’s metropolitan precincts.