Vivianna Torun Bülow-Hübe
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Vivianna Torun Bülow-Hübe (4 December 1927 – 3 July 2004), often known simply as Torun, was one of Sweden's most important 20th century
silversmith A silversmith is a metalworker who crafts objects from silver. The terms ''silversmith'' and ''goldsmith'' are not exact synonyms, as the techniques, training, history, and guilds are (or were, at least) largely the same but differed in that t ...
s and a master jeweller. She is the first female silversmith to have become internationally noted. Among her most important works are the watch "Vivianna," the bracelet "Mobius," and the earrings and necklaces "Dew Drop."


Early life

Born Torun Bülow-Hübe, she grew up in Malmö with her sculptor mother, town planner father and three older siblings. Her entire family was creative: a sister became a poet and her brother and other sister grew up to become architects. Torun began making jewelry as a teenager. She attended the Stockholm university of arts, crafts and design Konstfackskolan (later renamed Konstfack). She staged her first exhibition at the age of 21. In 1948 she traveled to Paris and Cannes, where she met painters
Pablo Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...
,
Georges Braque Georges Braque ( ; ; 13 May 1882 – 31 August 1963) was a major 20th-century List of French artists, French painter, Collage, collagist, Drawing, draughtsman, printmaker and sculptor. His most notable contributions were in his alliance with ...
and
Henri Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual arts, visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a drawing, draughtsman, printmaking, printmaker, ...
. A few years later she opened her own studio, which made her the first female silversmith in Sweden with her own workshop.


Personal life

Torun had her first child, Pia, at the age of 18. She later married Pia's father, a Danish journalism student, but the marriage was short-lived. In 1948, Torun married her second husband, a French architect, with whom she had a second child, Claude. In 1956 they divorced, and Torun lost custody of Claude to his father. She then remarried and moved to Paris with her third husband, the African-American painter Walter Coleman, with whom she later had two children, Ira and Marcia. In 1958 the family moved to Biot in the south of France to avoid the political problems they were encountering in Paris as a result of the war in Algeria. In 1965 Torun's marriage to Coleman broke up. After the breakup of her third marriage, Torun become a member of the
Subud Subud (pronounced ) is an international, interfaith spirituality, spiritual movement that began in Indonesia in the 1920s, founded by Muhammad Subuh Sumohadiwidjojo (1901–1987). The basis of Subud is a spiritual exercise called the Latihan ...
international spiritual movement. As a symbol for this spiritual change, she adopted "Vivianna" as an additional first name in 1967, and in 1968 she moved to Germany to be nearer to a Subud community. In 1978, she moved to Jakarta in
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
, the birthplace for the Subud movement. In 2002, after being diagnosed with leukemia, she left Indonesia to live with her daughter Marcia in Denmark until her death in 2004 at the age of 76.


Work and awards

Throughout her career, Torun worked in Sweden, France, Germany and Indonesia. In 1948, saying that she didn't want to design jewelry for the wives of wealthy men to keep locked up in private, Torun began making what she called "anti-status jewelry" out of twisted silver wire embellished with crystals and stones. In 1959, she designed the Mobius necklace, which included a lead crystal drop to be draped over the shoulder of the wearer. It was described by Barbara Cartlidge, author of the reference book ''Twentieth Century Jewelry'', as a "milestone in the history of modern jewelry." In 1962, Torun designed a stainless steel bangle-style wristwatch for an exhibition at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. It later became the first wristwatch to be produced by the world-renowned Danish silver company
Georg Jensen Georg Arthur Jensen (31 August 1866 in Rådvad – 2 October 1935 in Copenhagen) was a Danish silversmith and founder of Georg Jensen A/S (also known as Georg Jensen Sølvsmedie). Early life Born in 1866, Jensen was the son of a knife gri ...
. In 1960, Torun was awarded a gold medal at the 1960 Milan Triennale and also won the American Lunning Prize for design, given annually to innovative Scandinavian designers in their thirties. She then met the Danish silversmith Georg Jensen, for whom she began designing exclusively in 1969. Torun is the designer behind some of the most famous Georg Jensen jewelry designs, including 'Mobius', 'The Vivianna / Open Watch', 'Beans', 'Forget me knot' and 'Hidden Heart'. She is the second most famous Georg Jensen designer, behind Jensen himself. In 1992 she was awarded the Prince Eugen medal by
King Carl XVI Gustaf Carl XVI Gustaf (Carl Gustaf Folke Hubertus; born 30 April 1946) is King of Sweden. Having reigned since 1973, he is the longest-reigning monarch in Swedish history. Carl Gustaf was born during the reign of his paternal great-grandfather, K ...
of Sweden for outstanding artistic achievement. Also in 1992, the Georg Jensen form held an exhibition honouring 25 years of its association with Torun, 45 years of her work with silver and her 65th birthday. In the same year, the Musee des Arts Decoratifs in the
Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...
held a 45-year retrospective of Torun's work. Torun's jewelry was inspired by natural shapes such as flowers, leaves, swirls and the flow of water. It is described as sober, minimalist and simple. Torun has been praised for her ability to shape solid materials into seemingly flexible forms, so that metal flows like water around the wearer's neck and shoulders. She did not use valuable stones, preferring instead pebbles, granite, rock crystal, moonstone and quartz. Torun's jewelry has been worn by celebrities including
Billie Holiday Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday made significant contributions to jazz music and pop ...
,
Ingrid Bergman Ingrid Bergman (29 August 191529 August 1982) was a Swedish actress.Obituary ''Variety Obituaries, Variety'', 1 September 1982. With a career spanning five decades, Bergman is often regarded as one of the most influential screen figures in cin ...
, and
Brigitte Bardot Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot ( ; ; born 28 September 1934), often referred to by her initials B.B., is a French former actress, singer, and model as well as an animal rights activist. Famous for portraying characters with Hedonism, hedonistic life ...
, and her customers included Pablo Picasso, Chester Himes and
Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous Big band, jazz orchestra from 1924 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D ...
. Her work can be seen in the
Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...
in New York City, the Swedish National Museum in Stockholm, the Musee des Arts Decoratifs in Montreal, the Louvre in Paris, the
Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths The Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths (commonly known as ''The Goldsmiths' Company'' and formally styled ''The Wardens and Commonalty of the Mystery of Goldsmiths of the City of London''), is one of the Great Twelve Livery Companies of the City ...
in London, and in the
Pinakothek der Moderne The Pinakothek der Moderne (, '' Pinakothek of the Modern'') is a modern art museum, situated in central Munich's '' Kunstareal''. The building Designed by German architect Stephan Braunfels, the Pinakothek der Moderne was inaugurated in Se ...
in Munich. Her jewelry and housewares are sold today by retailers such as Georg Jensen, Bed Bath & Beyond and
Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...
.


References


Further reading

*


External links

*
Link to video of artist discussing her work in Swedish
{{DEFAULTSORT:Buelow-Huebe, Vivianna 1927 births 2004 deaths Konstfack alumni People from Malmö Swedish jewelry designers Swedish silversmiths Swedish Subud members Women metalsmiths Swedish women artisans Women jewellers Women silversmiths 20th-century Swedish artisans 21st-century Swedish artisans 20th-century jewellers 21st-century jewellers