E. Chillida, 78; Spanish Wrought-Iron Sculptor

Eduardo Chillida, one of Europe’s leading sculptors whose immense wrought-iron works are found in public spaces in Paris, Berlin, Frankfurt, Germany, and Barcelona, Spain, has died. He was 78.

Chillida died Monday at his home near San Sebastian, Spain, his son Luis announced. Chillida had Alzheimer’s disease, but his son did not specify the cause of death.

In a career spanning more than 50 years, Chillida was best known for his iron sculptures, but also worked with wood, alabaster, marble and granite.

One of his most famous sculptures is “The Comb of the Winds,” which overlooks the sea at San Sebastian. The artwork came to symbolize efforts to bring peace to the Basque region, torn by separatist violence for decades.

Another major piece, showing two iron hands joined together, representing the unification of East Germany and West Germany, is in Berlin.

Perhaps his best-known work in the United States is in front of the I.M. Pei-designed Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas. The work features two pillars with branches that reach out but do not touch.

In Washington, a Chillida sculpture is inside the World Bank headquarters. A sculpture by Chillida also sits outside Beverly Hills City Hall.

Born in San Sebastian, Chillida was the son of an army officer and an amateur singer. His family sent him to live in Paris during the Spanish civil war in the 1930s.

After returning to Spain, Chillida studied architecture at the University of Madrid, but he abandoned that pursuit for drawing and design.

He moved back to Paris in the late 1940s and began working in plaster and stone, modeling his work after Greek marble sculptures in the Louvre. Feeling dislocated, he returned to the Basque region and began working with iron. He worked in that medium for much of the next decade as his reputation grew throughout Europe.

Chillida’s work was exhibited in more than 100 one-man shows, and he participated in many international exhibitions, including the Venice Biennale. He received the Carnegie Prize for sculpture in 1964. In 1978, he shared the Andrew W. Mellon Prize with Willem de Kooning.

The Frank Gehry-designed Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, hosted a major retrospective of his work in 1999.

In Southern California, Chillida’s work has been exhibited at the Tasende Gallery in La Jolla and in West Hollywood.

In addition to son Luis, Chillida is survived by his wife, Pilar; seven other children; and 26 grandchildren.