Flower Brooche c. 1945 - 1953

This Flower Brooch by Vanzetka is a marvel of goldsmithing, with some stones thrown in to boot. The blue petals look like hard candy, don’t they? I want to know how the artist managed to get that level of control of the material. Look closely, and you’ll see that nothing in this brooch is flat or still. The stems curve, the leaves flare, and the flower petals cup gently. It’s a reminder that even something as seemingly fixed as a piece of jewelry is actually full of movement and energy. The overall effect is both organic and artificial, a sort of stylized nature, which is really just like art in general. That tension between the natural and the constructed reminds me a bit of the work of someone like Rene Lalique, but maybe even more ornate. Art is never created in a vacuum. It’s always talking to other art, riffing and remixing ideas across time.