Work by Lucy Sarneel added to the permanent presentation of the CODA collection

My jewellery is slow art in a fast world. It requires attention and concentration and connects observer and wearer through conversation.
/ Lucy Sarneel

CODA managed to acquire a number of special works from the exhibition in 2017 and from het last exhibition Plus (2020) at Galerie Marzee. Over the course of the following years, a large part of her oeuvre was added to the CODA collection through acquisitions and donations. The additions to the collection include unique personal objects from her studio, like the workbench and the cabinet with sources of inspiration her family donated to CODA. As of 4 March – Lucy’s birthday – this workbench and a number of iconic pieces of jewellery from the CODA collection will be shown as part of the permanent collection presentation at CODA’s De Verdieping. CODA director Carin Reinders: “Lucy made the world a more beautiful place with her jewellery, which – literally – became strewn over all continents. The love she put into that work established a lasting connection. With this addition to the permanent presentation of the collection we  commemorate Lucy. On her birthday and a long time after.”


Communication, wearability and affordability have always been important, leading principles in the work of Lucy Sarneel (1961-2020). The connection with others is a leitmotiv in her oeuvre. Her visual language is associative, sculptural and allows both the wearer and the spectator to form their own interpretations and associations. Her jewellery can be described as carefully composed collections of various figurative and abstract parts. The combination of the grey zinc, the different materials, the vibrant colours and the mostly figurative forms lends Lucy Sarneel’s oeuvre its characteristic, unique idiom. Although her work evolved greatly over the years, the need to communicate with and through jewellery remained a constant factor. Sarneel in 2017: “Jewellery has a life of its own and invites reflection and communication, while also offering people the option of wearing it. My jewellery is slow art in a fast world. It requires attention and concentration and connects observer and wearer through conversation.”


Lucy Sarneel graduates from the art academy in Maastricht in 1985 and then moves to Amsterdam to study at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie. Onno Boekhoudt is the head of the Goldsmithing department at the time. There is an instant click between teacher and student, and Boekhoudt recognises Sarneel’s talent. His approach to jewellery as autonomous art and his teaching method, aimed at students developing their own artistic visual language, tie in seamlessly with Sarneel’s needs. At a time when many artists are still struggling to free themselves from the dogmas of the 1970s, Sarneel opts for a mainly figurative visual language. In addition to being a visual artist, Lucy Sarneel was a teacher at the institute where she received her training. From 2009 to 2014, she taught at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie and hosted masterclasses at the Royal Academy of Arts and at Alchimia in Florence. Students loved her for her critical but kind observations and her great loyalty.