‘My passion for artists’ jewellery was born on the day Bernar [Venet] amused himself by rolling a thin strip of silver around my left ring finger as a wedding band. This was in 1985 when we lived in New York,’ says prolific jewellery collector Diane Venet, who over the years has amassed a vast collection of artist-designed jewellery. ‘This first gesture had a far-reaching impact on me,’ she adds. ‘It encouraged me to discover the scarcely known universe of such unique and precious works of art. Precious not simply due to their rarity, but also for the symbolic content that spurred their creation.’
Bernar Venet, Indeterminate Line, 1985
Many of Venet’s pieces are now on view at West Palm Beach’s Norton Museum of Art exhibition, ‘Artists’ Jewelry: From Cubism to Pop, the Diane Venet Collection’, with jewellery from artists including Rashid Johnson, Alexander Calder, Niki de Saint Phalle, Yayoi Kusama, Salvador Dalí, Man Ray, Pablo Picasso and Kiki Smith also available to try on.
Venet formed close relationships with many of these artists, occasionally undertaking collaborations with them, or suggesting they work in a new medium. ‘As I have been drawn further into this world, I have asked various artists for a contribution,’ she adds. ‘I gave César [Baldaccini, the French sculptor] a handful of family chains, bracelets and pendants that he then compressed into a pendant; or John Chamberlain, who out of friendship offered me his first-ever piece of jewellery made of painted aluminium.’
Jean Cocteau, Madame, 1960s
For Venet, each piece is synonymous with both friendship and creativity. ‘Artists might start off by declining the request, then, in the intimacy of their studio, they are tempted to put their artistic vocabulary to the test. Such was the case with Frank Stella, who one evening, after numerous refusals to Bernar, gave me a folded page from The New York Times containing a huge necklace; a design made of titanium and crudely painted gold.’
'Artists’ Jewelry: From Cubism to Pop, the Diane Venet Collection' is at the Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, until 5 October 2025
Man Ray, Optic Topic, 1974
Brooch by Georges Braque
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