NEW BOOK! The first female silversmith to gain worldwide recognition. Vivianna Torun Bülow-Hübe (1927–2004)

It is a search for the source, the simple and natural, that imbues Torun’s creative work. Inspired by the art of primitive cultures, in particular African, Oceanic and Egyptian, she created her forms, not for the sake of beauty alone, but carefully considered both the form and function of each piece of jewellery she made. A practical detail, such as the fastening, is not concealed but on the contrary, accentuated. She subscribed to the philosophy that what is functional is also beautiful. - extract

Born in 1927 in Malmö, Sweden, into an exceptionally artistic family, the breadth of Torun’s creativity was apparent from a very early age. She was educated at Konstfack school of art and design in Stockholm, and soon after completing her training she opened her own workshop – the first of its kind in Stockholm.

Torun challenged the traditional status symbols of the time: to her, diamonds and gold were rigid and formulaic. She saw beauty in shapes and textures found in nature (from a perfectly smooth beach pebble, to the smooth wave of a Mobius loop), and with her unique talent for transforming silver into organic, flowing shapes, she showed the world the unique beauty of silver. The pieces she created were based on aesthetic beauty, playfulness, and the feelings they evoked, not the monetary value of the materials – a radical challenge to the centuries-old tradition of making jewellery in order to display wealth and status.

Her life was as unique and unconventional as her silver creations: in the 1960s, married to an African-American painter, she lived and worked in Paris – surrounded by that decade’s cultural icons. The cafés of the Rive Gauche became the meeting points for everyone from Jean-Paul Sartre and the other literary greats, to the stars of stage and screen (Brigitte Bardot, Ingrid Bergman), and the most celebrated artists of the time. And they all wanted Torun’s innovative and radical new jewellery. Newspapers and magazines competed for the chance to photograph the beautiful silversmith modelling her own creations.

She moved to Biot on the French Riviera, where she established a silversmith’s workshop with apprentices – which continues to produce both works in silver and trained silversmiths to this day. In the 1970s she moved to Indonesia, where the beauty of the nature around her and the culture of the people she met inspired her greatly. She founded a welfare project based on her silversmithing, where 25% of the profits were given to the elderly and the poor.

Although she exhibited in numerous museums and galleries, she is perhaps most associated with the partnership entered into with Georg Jensen in 1967, which made her designs available, and ultimately revered, all over the world – a collaboration which has spanned more than 50 years. The continued popularity of her jewellery is a testament to the unique, timelessly modern style she created.

The book uniquely captures the essence of the woman and her work: her intimate conversations with the author, Ann Westin, are richly illustrated with pictures from both her personal life and of her ground-breaking works of art.

About The Author
Ann Westin is an Art Historian and renowned Stockholm gallery owner. She has followed, and been inspired by, Torun’s artistry since the 1960s.