Reinhold Reiling

Bio

Reinhold Reiling (1922-1983) was a German jewellery designer, goldsmith, and teacher who taught at the Kunstfachschule in Pforzheim (1953-1969) and at the Staatliche Kunst und Werkschule (renamed Fachhochschule für Gestaltung) in Pforzheim, Germany (1969-1983), influencing a generation of artists, including Onno Boekhoudt, Winfried Krüger, Rüdiger Lorenzen, Peter de Wit, Gabriele Dziuba, Manfred Bischoff and Martina Dempf. He was one of the most important teachers of jewellery design in Germany and shaped generations of designers who went on to work in arts, crafts, and industry.
Influenced by French painting of the 1950s and 1960s, as well as Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art, Reiling developed a practice centred on textured gold. Around 1970, his work shifted toward a more geometric vocabulary.
 

Statement

Reinhold Reiling translated a new design vocabulary into jewellery. His textured surfaces testify to his turning away from purely ornamental decoration towards a very individual design language defined by himself. One of Reiling’s quotes was: Schmuck machen heißt formulieren in Metall (making jewellery is expressing yourself in metal). His jewellery is part of the collection of the Schmuckmuseum in Pforzheim and other museums.