Francesco Pavan

Bio

Born in Padua in Italy (1937-2025), Francesco studied at the Istituto Statale d’Arte Pietro Selvatico, where he taught and was chair until 2000. He has won many awards, including the Marzee Prize in 2003. His work is exhibited internationally and can be seen in many collections, including the Marzee Collection, Die Neue Sammlung in Munich, Schmuckmuseum Pforzheim, the Kunstgewerbemuseum in Berlin, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris and the Helen Williams Drutt Collection in the US. Francesco Pavan passed away in 2025.

Statement

Part of the Padua School, Francesco Pavan worked with a pared-back aesthetic and a refined palette of metals and colour. The effects of light, structural design and geometrical forms were the coordinates of his creative imagination, and his jewellery ranged from three-dimensional forms, relief-like structures and kinetic works to painterly, almost playful surfaces.
Francesco’s jewellery takes time. It does not reveal itself in a fleeting, superficial glance – its subtle complexity, balance and quiet beauty require us to pause and reflect.