Getulio ALVIANI (1939 - 2018)

Monorecchio, 1968

Unique single earring made from a large flat aluminium disc milled with a mille luce burr or optical finish, and a central ear-shaped cut out, which fits over the ear. Designed by Alviani for the fashion designer Germana Marucelli, and made by Casa Fumanti, Rome. Original fitted circular hinged black Lucite covered box and draw-string canvas bag.

Marks: Underside box with scratched dated signature: G. Alviani 68

Dimensions: D. earring 19.2 cm; D. box 23 cm

Exhibition: Scultura Aurea. Gioielli d’Artista per un nuovo Rinascimento, Palazzo Ducale, Galleria Nazionale della Marche, 30 May - 8 September 2019; Bodydrift - Anatomies of the Future, Design Museum, s'Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands, 1 June - 4 October 2020

Literature: Martine Newby Haspeslagh, Jewelry by Contemporary Painters and Sculptors @ 50: 1967-2017 (Didier Ltd, London 2017), pp. 20-1, no. 3; P. Stroppiana, Scultura Aurea. Gioielli d’Artista per un nuovo Rinascimento. Art Jewellery for a new Renaissance (Gli Ori, Pistoia 2019), pp. 48-9; Martine Newby Haspeslagh The Jeweller's Guide to the Galaxy. 42 Years of Atomic and Space Age Jewellery 1945-1987 (Didier Ltd, London 2019), p. 26, no. 33

At 19.2 cm across, this single earring is 6.2 cm wider in diameter than the famous slightly concave example from 1967 that remained in the possession of the artist, which was recently included in the 2016 exhibition, Across Art and Fashion, Museo Salvatore Ferragamo, Florence (p. 212 in accompanying catalogue edited by S. Ricci, but erroneously dated to 1965). An annotated Indian ink drawing and photograph of this aluminium prototype in the archives of Danilo Fumanti shows that a gold-plated aluminium version was also considered (L. Somaini and C. Cerritelli, Jewelry by Artists in Italy, 1945-1995, Milan 1995, p. 177).