The term art jewelry is bandied about a lot, typically referring to jewelry of a sculptural nature that could be and sometimes has been displayed in a museum. And now there is a piece of jewelry incorporating a work of art, a creation that is being promoted as the first of its kind.
A brooch featuring an original oil painting by Pierre Dubail, the jeweler and artist, and some of his other paintings were to be unveiled to the public on Nov. 28 at the Dubail store on Place Vendôme in Paris.
The brooch, named L’Envol (in English, flight), is in the shape of a butterfly, one of the jewelry house’s signature motifs, and measures 7 centimeters by 9 centimeters (2.7 inch by 3.5 inch). Its wings display Mr. Dubail’s painting, an abstract oil capturing the movement of butterfly wings in blues and purples.
“The idea came from Frédéric Mané and I immediately agreed with this idea,” Mr. Dubail wrote in an email, referring to a Dubail consultant who also teaches jewelry design at the Haute École de Joaillerie in Paris. “I found the idea innovative and for me in my life, I have always tried to innovate.”
The men started discussing the project a year ago. Mr. Mané created the design — a wall in his studio in Paris is covered with sketches of L’Envol in various stages. And Jothi-Sèroj Ebroussard, a sculptor and jeweler in Nice, France, executed the piece.
In a video interview, Mr. Ebroussard said he and his team of seven began working on the brooch’s fabrication in April. Mr. Dubail’s oil painting was placed on a lightweight frame of blue and turquoise aluminum, covered with a layer of museum glass and then with a layer of rock crystal. The canvas was attached to the wings with small prongs, much like a gem would be set on a piece of jewelry.
Diamonds, blue and mauve sapphires and aquamarines were among the gems used to create the butterfly’s body and to finish its wings.
“L’Envol is a hybrid of painting, jewelry and silversmithing,” Mr. Mané said, as a 40-centimeter-tall (1.3 foot) marble and silver column was also created to display the brooch. The column is a reproduction of the one on the Place Vendôme, just outside the Dubail store, and was based on a pattern provided by France’s Ministry of Culture.
The Dubail family has decided to keep L’Envol as inspiration for future works of art jewelry rather than sell it. But, Mr. Dubail said, “I would make something new, with a new painting.” And, he added, the sale price of such a special order would be donated to the scholarship that bears his name at the Haute École de Joaillerie.
The post An Oil Painting Takes Wing appeared first on New York Times.
