Vivianna Torun Bülow-Hübe
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a necklace, silver, Stockholm 1952.
Signed TORUN. Width ca 48 mm, inner diameter ca 9.8 cm, weight 84 g. The necklace was a special order for Palmstierna-Weiss.
Ann Westin, "Torun - Coversation with Vivianna Torun Bülow Hübe, Carlsson Bokförlag, 1993, p 29 a picture from Konstfack in the 1950's with Gunilla Palmstierna-Weiss, fifth and Torun Bülow-Hübe, ninth, together.
Wear commensurate with age and use.
Provenance
Gunilla Palmstierna-Weiss (1928-2022). Gunilla Palmstierna-Weiss and Torun Bülow-Hübe got to know each other while both studying at the University of Arts, Crafts and Design in Stockholm in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Palmstierna-Weiss is today best known for her work in the theatre world. She worked both with scenography and with costumes, internationally and in Sweden, often with her husband, the writer and artist Peter Weiss, but also on several occasions with Ingmar Bergman. At the University of Arts, Crafts and Design Palmstierna-Weiss studied ceramics among other things, and she later ran her own ceramics workshop in the mid-1950s. During their time at school, the women collaborated on creating silver necklaces with stoneware designed by Palmstierna-Weiss, and in the mid-1950s, they had a joint exhibition in Paris at Galerie du Siècle, a gallery that was an important venue in Bülow-Hübe's career. Palmstierna-Weiss and Bülow-Hübe remained close friends throughout their lives. The two silver necklaces that Bukowskis is delighted to present at the upcoming Modern Sale have never been on the market before, and both were made early in Bülow-Hübe's career as she took her first steps on her long and highly successful path, but even then her minimalist yet sensual aesthetic that she refined until her passing in 2004 is strongly present.
More information
Vivianna Torun Bülow Hübe was born in Malmö into a family where art was a natural part of everyday life. Her mother, Runa Bülow Hübe, was a sculptor and her father, Erik Bülow Hübe was a city planner. Torun had her first child, Pia, as an 18-year-old. She moved to Stockholm with her small child to start at her education at Konstfack.
In her spare time, Torun began working with simple materials such as cane, brass, leather etcetera and created African-inspired jewellery.
She made these at home in her studio or in the park Humlegården while Pia was playing. She was given the opportunity to sell her creations to Estrid Ericson who sold them in her store "Svenskt Tenn" at Strandvägen.
In the summer of 1948, Torun went to Paris where she hung out in artistic circles with, for example, Braque, Brancusi, Matisse and others. In Paris, she met her husband to be, the architect Jean-Pierre Serbonnet, with whom she had her son Claude. The couple lived in Stockholm where Torun had a small studio. She sold her jewellery herself, but also via Svenskt Tenn and in a shop at Sibyllegatan. The family visited Paris frequently, and in 1952 Torun exhibited her jewellery in Paris for the first time. Torun had a license to stamp in both Sweden and France, therefore some of her jewellery has Swedish stamps, others French.
In 1952 Torun divorced the French architect and in 1956 she moved to Paris and met her second husband, the African-American Walter Coleman. She came to spend time mainly with Walter's friends in musicians and artist circles. Billie Holiday was one of Torun's customers at the time.
Over time, it became difficult being African-American living in Paris and the couple moved to Biot. On the local beaches, she picked beach stones that she incorporated into her jewellery. Through various contacts, Torun had the opportunity to exhibit her jewellery at the Musée Picasso in 1958. See nr 169 and nr 179. Torun had her studio at home in her house. It was an active period with various apprentices and regular visits of Swedish blacksmiths. When her marriage ended in 1965, Torun took her children back to Sweden for a new start. Life became too lonely, though, and Torun moved to Germany in 1968. In this period, the collaboration with Georg Jensen began. When Jensen introduced Torun's well-known watch with mirror glass as a clock face, it was the first wristwatch in the company's history.
The collaboration with Jensen gave Torun financial stability as well as the opportunity to experiment. In 1976, Torun started a studio in Indonesia where they made simple necklaces with mother of pearl and shells. The idea was philanthropic, she provided job opportunities, and the money would go back to the organization to finance orphanages, old people's homes and hospital-cars, among other things. In 1978, Torun herself moved down to Indonesia.
Torun remained in Indonesia with her business until the late 1990s when she moved to Copenhagen with her daughter Marcia and her family. Torun exhibited a large number of times during the 1990s. She died of cancer in 2004.
Torun was a designer that wasn’t only a pioneering silversmith by being a woman. She was a pioneer in creating those beautiful modernistic pieces of jewellery based on silver combined with glass drops, beach stones etc in such a timeless manner that has given her such a fine world repute.