Emmanuel Villanis artwork • statue • sculpture • previously for sale Esméralda, young woman with a headscarf

The French Art Nouveau sculptor Emmanuel Villanis was born in 1858 in Lille, France, to Italian parents. Two years later, his family returned to Italy. There he studied between 1871 and 1880 at the Accademia Albertina in Turin, under the well-known sculptor of female figures Odoardo Tabacchi. In 1885 the artist returned permanently to France and settled in Morntmartre. Until 1910 he was a regular and beloved participant in the Paris Salon with busts of heroines from literature, mythology and opera.