Art and love sometimes go very well together. At the beginning of the 80s, the sculptor Bernar Venet (1) had fun wrapping around the finger of Diane, his beloved, a thin silver rod to make a wedding ring. Famous for his monumental works, the conceptual artist thus creates out of love a mini-sculpture, his first jewel for his future wife. This ring will also be for Diane Venet the first step in the collection of artists’ jewelry that she then decides to constitute.
Collapse: 7 angles, Bernar Venet, 2017, Pendant, yellow gold, unique piece
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And what a collection! There are the biggest French and international names in modern and contemporary art: Picasso, Braque, Dali, Man Ray, Sonia Delaunay, Giacometti (2), Louise Bourgeois, Franck Stella, Andy Warhol, César, Sol Lewitt, Keith Haring, ORLAN, Joana Vasconcelos, Ugo Rondinone, Jeff Koons, Ai Weiwei….
From New York to Roubaix
If Diane Venet wears her precious jewels for decades in New York where the couple resides, she unveils them to the public for the first time in 2008 in… Roubaix. The swimming pool, a formidable museum of art and industry, already has a collection of art deco jewelry. Then it will be New York, Athens, Seoul, Venice, Paris… and today Monaco.
The oldest jewels of this elegant woman, the ex-wife of a diplomat, were bought from an American collector. The Grand Faune (illustrative photo of the article), a Picasso pendant made by the silversmith François Hugo (Victor Hugo’s grandson) is one of the most beautiful and wearable pieces in the collection.
Optic Topic, 1974. Masque, or, Edition GianCarlo Montebello, 79/100, collection Diane Venet
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Man Ray’s Optic Topic, on the other hand, is not really a gem. But coming from one of the founders of surrealism, the half-mask-half-glasses work has quite its place in Diane Venet’s cabinet of wonders. Of course, wearing it outside of a masked ball …
Compressed jewel
The more contemporary works were mostly commissioned by Diane Venet from artists. Please note, ordering does not mean regimenting. Each artist is free in his creation. Thus César (1921-1998) famous for his Compressions, made for the collector a pendant from already existing jewelry that he crushed together.
Compression, César, 1960. Pendant made from jewelry. Yellow gold, pink gold, rubies and diamonds. Unique piece. Diane Venet collection.
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The only constraint is that they are portable. Of course, they are not really suited to “metro-work-small restaurant” life, but quite adequate for a Milan-Shanghai flight in First class, a vernissage in Manhattan or a cocktail at the ambassador’s. Whatever, over a few hundred square meters, the exhibition “Artists’ jewelry from Picasso to Koons” presents works of art that are tiny in size, but monumental in strength and beauty.
Artist’s jewelry, from Picasso to Koons, the Diane Venet collection, Forum Grimaldi, Monaco, until August 29.
(1) Bernar Venet, 80, presents at his foundation in Le Muy, in the Var, a new monumental work produced last July during a performance. In addition to the artist’s sculptures, the Venet Foundation has an impressive collection of monumental works by Franck Stella, Robert Morris, Tony Cragg, Anish Kappour… Visit by appointment until October 1st.
(2) An exhaustive retrospective of the work ofAlberto Giacometti is also held at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco, until August 29.
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