Brynner01 Vintage Irena Brynner Modernist 18kt gold and natural pearl ‘Bird’ brooch, circa- 1950 to 2002
Origin: USA or Switzerland
Dimensions: 2.38" H x 2.5" W (visually) or 2.25" measured at pearl level; pearl is .38" diameter; 39.4 gm
Condition: Excellent – Signed ‘I. Brynner’
Provenance: Private Collection
Price: $5,500.00

One of the most significant Modernist jewelry artists of the 1950’s, Irena Brynner, cousin to the actor Yul Brynner, grew up in an artistic family in Vladivostock. The family escaped in the 1930’s to the Japanese port of Dairen in Manchuria, then home to a vibrant arts and international community. After studying drawing, painting and sculpture in Switzerland, Irena and her family emigrated to San Francisco after WWII. There, Irena studied sculpture and taught art, when, inspired by a Claire Falkenstein piece, she applied her talents to jewelry making. With Margaret De Patta, Brynner become a founding member of San Francisco’s Metal Arts Guild. Brynner started working in gold after receiving Hollywood commissions in the early ‘50’s through her cousin Yul. As Irena’s work won national recognition, she moved to New York City, exhibiting with MoMA, Aaron Faber and other galleries, evolving from her early, geometric style to a free-form, sculptural organic style. Emigrating to Geneva in 1972, Irena gained an international following, returning to the New York arts scene in 1984. One of a few jewelry artists to master high temperature water welding techniques, Brynner’s gold work is intricately cast, hammered, forged and melted to achieve lyrical organic shapes. Her work is in the permanent collection of museums in Boston, Oakland, New York’s Cooper-Hewitt, and the Louvre. This stunning pearl-set brooch, with its drips, bubbles and textured fissures, displays the artist’s verve, imagination and unerring visual balance. A coup for the connoisseur, this showstopper looks fantastic on!