Georges Braque
Alcyone
1961/ 1962
Collier. 18 carat yellow and white gold, trimming with brilliant-cut diamonds (1,79 ct.). Weight 84 g Approx. 18 x 15.5 cm (bird motif 5 x 5.7 cm) Numbered and inscribed "Bijoux de G Braque" on the back of the chain necklace. Hallmark "750" and punched master stamp on the pin fastening. Numbered 2/8. Crafted 2008. Rare exemplar of the terminated edition. Edition Heger de Loewenfeld/Armand Israel, Paris, based on the original design by the artist. - The edition's jewellery box enclosed.
This necklace was manufactured on the basis of a gouache by Georges Braque. The completed design drawing was provided with the artist's authorisation, from 14 July 1961, that Heger de Loewenfeld reproduce it. Loewenfeld was a well-known French gem cutter and jeweller; in close consultation with Braque, he supervised the realisation of various three-dimensionally conceived works, which the artist developed during the final years of his life. These creations of his last years were called “Métamorphoses”: inspired by Greek mythology and Ovid, they allude back to Braque's oeuvre and to his early occupation with antiquity as well as with Hesiod's Theogony - inspired by Ambroise Vollard in the early thirties.
“Alcyone” refers to the brightest star of the Pleiades. In Greek mythology she was a daughter of the wind god Aeolus. The myth that grew up around her husband's death at sea tells how Alcyone sought to follow him in death by plunging off the cliffs at the edge of the sea - and how the gods rescued her and were able to unite the couple by transforming not just Alcyone but also her dead beloved into birds.
Examples of the “Alcyone” jewellery edition can be found at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, and at the Musée Georges Braque, in Saint-Dié-des Vosges.
Certificate
With a certificate by Armand Israel, Paris
Literature
Exhib. cat. Sieraden van Georges Braque, Uitgevoerd door Heger de Löwenfeld, Haags Gemeentemuseum, The Hague 1965, photo n.p. (Braque and Löwenfeld with the collier Alcyone); Armand Israel, Georges Braque. L'Artisan de génie, exhib cat. Levallois 2014, p. 48/49 with colour illus.; Armand Israel, Georges Braque & Les Précurseurs de l'art moderne et contemporain, exhib cat. Mas d'Artigny, Saint-Paul de Vence 2015, p. 53 with colour illus.
Exhibitions
Paris 1963 (Palais du Louvre, Musée des Arts Décoratifs), Bijoux de Braque, cat. no. 13 ("La belle Alcyone construit son nid loin de la mer avec de délicates branches", "Acquis par l'État"); Zurich 1963 (Gimpel and Hanover Gallery), bijoux de Braque, Réalisés par Heger de Löwenfeld, cat. no. 13; San Francisco 1963 (Young Memorial Museum); Pittsburgh 1963 (Museum of Art Carnegie Institute); Den Haag 1965 (Gemeentemuseum), Sieraden van Georges Braque; Paris 1968 (Galerie Stadler); Brussels 2005 (Galerie Pascal Polar); Milan 2005 (Museo Fondazione Luciana Matalon); Barcelona 2006 (Fine Art Gallery)