In the 1950s there was a trend in jewelry production
towards independent artists making unique pieces of jewelry, the Jewelry
Studio movement. Øyvind Modahl was pionering this movement in Norway
when he opend his workshop in Oslo in 1953. The trend continued with amongst
others Uni David-Andersen and Studio Else & Paul in the late 50s, and
later Tone Vigeland and Toril Bjorg in the 60s.
The Modahl name is well known to collectors of Norwegian jewelry, mainly
because of the family company of Øyvind Modahl's father Einar Modahl,
with a large production of enamelled silver jewelry. Øyvind Modahl
trained in his fathers factory/workshop before starting off on his own.
Modahl's production of handmade jewelry features a quite individualistic
style. His interest in stones is closely connected with his jewelry production,
also pionering the use of Norwegian semi prescious stones and raw chrystals
in bold modernistic settings. The colors and structure of the stones are
crucial for the setting. The results are harmonious sculptures of stone
and metal. When in 1965 the talented gemmologist surprised his contemporaries
by starting to use raw, unpolished stones, the idea was that natural minerals
have a beauty that can not be improved by cutting or polishing. His jewelry
features a wide range of minerals such as Amethysts, Rubies, Agates and
Pyrite.
To explore and develop good shapes and settings for rings with stones,
was one of Modahl's specialities. In the urge to perfect the ringband
and find shapes that would slip off and on easily, but would not turn
on the finger, he tried both the super-ellipse, a form first developed
by the Danish poet and designer Piet Hein, and the triangle. Both these
forms make it possible to build a large form above the band and still
maintain the balance of the ring on the finger. With his technique based
on tension in the material that holds the stone, he managed to reach purity
of line with settings almost invisible.
Although Øyvind Modahl is one of the most exciting Norwegian
modernist jewelry artists, his high quality production is little known
outside of Norway. The jewelry of Øyvind Modahl was featured in
Donald J. Willcox book 'New Design in Jewelry' (New York 1970), but apart
from that he is almost absent in international litterature. The reason
for that might be the small scale of his production, and the fact that
his jewelry was never sold in galleries outside of Norway. His true interest
was in making individual pieces, rather than selling larger quantities.
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Brooch,
partly patinated/oxidized silver.
Brooch, ca 1965,
silver with rough uncut ruby.
Ring, ca 1965,
silver with Rock Crystal.
Brooch,
partly patinated/oxidized silver.
Brooch/pendant,
partly patinated/oxidized silver.
Pendant, ca 1964,
silver with Feltspar/Sunstone.
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